Where do you look for information and decision facts when you are considering buying the product or service of a specific company? In the internet era, the answer seems obvious: on the respective company’s website. In fact, in most industries that’s exactly what potential customers do. This is great news, if your website delivers the decision facts and customer experience consumers expect from their visit. Unfortunately, far too often they do not.
Important touchpoints in the automotive industry
Take the automotive industry, for example. When we performed a Europe-wide study on touchpoint usage during the purchase process, we identified that the most frequently used touchpoint during the evaluation phase was a car manufacturer’s website. We also learned, however, that car buyers rated other touchpoints such as third party sources – which they use less frequently – significantly more important for evaluation and that car companies’ websites fail providing enough of the required decision facts and customer experiences. By doing so, car manufacturers – and firms in many other industries – are allowing third party players to take over (essential parts of) the relationship with the customer. Is this bad for customers? Not necessarily. Is it bad for companies? Talk to representatives from the airlines and hotels industries. They might have a few stories about the relationship with the customer to tell.
