Six stages that turn strangers into raving fans.

Most businesses don't have a marketing problem. They have an order problem. They're doing bits of the journey, in the wrong order, and wondering why nothing sticks. This is the order.

Take the 3-minute quiz See the six stages

The Perfect Customer Journey: six stages along a road. Get Noticed, Connect, Build Trust, Make the Sale, Deliver & Wow, Create Fans. Fans come back and go round Build Trust, Make the Sale and Deliver & Wow again, and fans send new people in at Connect.

It's a loop, not a line. Fans come back, and they send new people in.

Why it works

Marketing hasn't really changed in hundreds of years.

The tools have. The way people buy hasn't. Nobody hands money to a stranger. First they find you. Then they get to know you, they decide they like you, and they start to trust you. Then they buy.

It's how any relationship works, one small step at a time, and you can't skip to the end. (Try proposing on a first date and see how you get on.)

That's all the Perfect Customer Journey is: those steps, written down, in the right order.

Strategy before tactics

The picture on the box lid.

Posting on Instagram isn't a strategy. Running ads isn't a strategy. Those are tactics. A strategy is the picture on the jigsaw box lid, the thing that shows how all the pieces fit together.

Before any of it, you need two things. Who it's for (not "business owners", more like "plumbers with a small team, based in Wigan"). And one sentence that tells the right person they're in the right place.

The six stages

Each one earns you the right to the next.

Stage 1

Get Noticed

Are the right people finding you?

It's impossible for people to buy from you if they don't know you exist. The job here is getting seen by the right people, in the places they already are. Not by everyone. A heating engineer doesn't need to go viral, they need to show up when someone nearby searches for a boiler service.

Google Business ProfileLocal SEOVideo and socialWord of mouth

What they're thinking

"These look like they do what I need."

Where it usually goes wrong

Being seen by the wrong people, or being seen and giving them nowhere to go.

Stage 2

Connect

Can you reach them directly?

If someone sees your stuff and then vanishes, what have you actually got? This stage is about getting their details so you can follow up on your terms, not the algorithm's. Followers aren't yours. An email address is.

A useful free guideA proper enquiry formAn email listA free review or check-up

What they're thinking

"That was useful, and it cost me nothing."

Where it usually goes wrong

Nothing to capture details at all, or an enquiry form that quietly broke months ago.

Stage 3

Build Trust

Are you proving you can help?

Someone giving you their email doesn't mean they trust you. This is where the relationship gets built. You show up, you help, and you prove you know your stuff, before you ask for anything.

Welcome emailsA useful newsletterAnswering real questionsCase studies and reviews

What they're thinking

"These know their stuff."

Where it usually goes wrong

Collecting emails and never sending anything, then sending a sales email into silence.

Stage 4

Make the Sale

Is it easy to say yes?

If the first three stages are done properly, this doesn't feel like a hard sell. You're offering the next logical step to someone who already trusts you. Make it easy, and chase the ones who go quiet. Silence isn't a no. It's usually someone busy.

A clear offerEasy bookingThe quoteChasing the quote

What they're thinking

"That was easy. I know what happens next."

Where it usually goes wrong

Never asking for the sale, and never following up the quotes that didn't come back.

Stage 5

Deliver & Wow

Did you do more than they expected?

Doing the job well is the baseline. Wow is the bit that makes them talk about you, and it's usually small, cheap and personal. This is where referrals are actually made, so it's marketing as much as it's delivery.

A text the day beforeA walk-through at handoverA handwritten cardA check-in a week later

What they're thinking

"I made the right call."

Where it usually goes wrong

Treating delivery as an operations job, not a marketing one.

Stage 6

Create Fans

Are they telling others about you?

The highest level of trust there is: someone putting their own name on the line to recommend you. Fans are also the ones who come back and buy again. "We rely on word of mouth" usually means nobody's asking for it.

Asking for reviews, every timeReferral cardsCase studiesStaying in touch

What they're thinking

"I trust these enough to tell people about them."

Where it usually goes wrong

Great work, then never asking.

The bit most people miss

It's a loop, not a line.

The journey doesn't stop at Create Fans. Fans work in the background the whole time.

New people

Someone who's never heard of you goes through all six stages, in order. There are no shortcuts with a stranger.

Fans come back

Once someone's a fan, they go round Build Trust, Make the Sale and Deliver & Wow again. You never skip Build Trust. You always earn the next sale.

Fans send new people in

They start at Connect: the fan sends them to something useful, and they arrive already warmed up.

The rules

Four rules that keep it simple.

Every stage earns the right to the next

Skip one and it starts to creak. You might get away with it for a while, but not for long.

Don't pay to get noticed until there's something to catch people

Where to start is different for everyone. But, there's no point paying for attention if there's no way for people to connect with you, and nothing to keep them interested once they do.

One thing per stage

Do one thing properly at each stage before you add anything else. Six small things, not six projects.

Strategy before tactics

Tactics change (Yellow Pages, Facebook, TikTok). The strategy doesn't. Get the strategy right first, then pick the tactics that fit it.

Score yourself

Where does your journey stand?

Give each stage a 0 (not doing it), 1 (patchy) or 2 (nailed on). Add them up. Or take the quiz and I'll do the maths, and tell you the first thing I'd fix.

Take the 3-minute quiz

0 to 4

Pieces, no box lid

Lots of bits, no plan.

5 to 8

Half-built bridges

Things started, nothing joined up.

9 to 12

Proper foundations

Now it's about doing more of what works.

Your next step

Rather I just told you which stage is leaking?

That's what the free web review is for. I look at what you've got, record a video going through it, and tell you the three things I'd fix first.

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The Perfect Customer Journey: A Plain English Guide

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