Understanding the Customer’s Journey
By EmoryDay
January 20, 2026
8 Minutes Read
Table Of Contents
Understanding the Customer’s Journey
What is the Customer’s Journey?
Customer Journey vs. Buyer’s Journey: What’s the Difference?
Stages in the Customer’s Journey
The Customer Journey and Conversions: Flow vs. Friction
When Friction is Actually a Good Thing
The “Frog to Prince” Ratio
The Bottom Line
How EmoryDay Can Help
Get Your Free Account Today!
FAQs
The customer’s journey is something that digital marketers sometimes forget about.
While many businesses focus heavily on attracting buyers and closing the first sale, there is still a lot of work that needs to be done after that initial sale.
Understanding the customer journey and how it differs from the buyer’s journey allows businesses to create better experiences, improve conversions, and build long-term relationships that keep revenue flowing.
What is the Customer’s Journey?
The customer journey is the complete experience a person has with your brand after becoming a customer. Adobe for Business explains that it “extends beyond the purchase itself and covers the ongoing interactions, support, and satisfaction that customers experience throughout their relationship with the brand.”
According to Zendesk, “successful businesses know the first purchase is merely the beginning of the relationship, so this process prioritizes retention. Businesses can earn long-term loyalty by engaging in continued support and personalized content.”
Customer Journey vs. Buyer’s Journey: What’s the Difference?
While these two journeys are closely connected, they serve different purposes.
The buyer’s journey focuses on getting the sale. Its primary goal is turning a prospect into a customer.
The customer journey begins after the purchase. Its goals include:
- Onboarding and education
- Customer satisfaction
- Retention and repeat purchases
- Loyalty and advocacy
Think of it this way:
- The buyer’s journey is about persuading.
- The customer journey is about creating a positive experience.
Businesses that only optimize for the buyer’s journey may win sales. But, businesses that also invest in the customer journey win loyalty and repeat sales.
Stages in the Customer’s Journey
Consideration
Customers are doing their research, comparing, and evaluating to find the solution that best fits their needs.
Decision
The customer is ready to make a purchase or commitment. They may be evaluating things like pricing, reviews, etc.
Retention
This post-purchase stage should be all about ongoing support, engagement, nurturing customers, etc.
Advocacy
This is where the customer actually helps your brand by promoting it. It can involve word-of-mouth, leaving positive reviews or testimonials, engaging with your brand on social media, etc.
The Customer Journey and Conversions: Flow vs. Friction
One of the most critical and often overlooked aspects of the customer journey is how easy it is for customers to move forward.
This is where the concept of flow vs. friction comes into play.
Flow
Flow is about creating a seamless, intuitive experience that guides customers naturally from one step to the next.
When the purchasing process flows, customers feel confident, supported, and more likely to continue engaging with your brand.
Friction
Every unnecessary step, confusing message, or delay creates a speed bump. These speed bumps can kill your conversions. These are considered “Friction.”
According to One Orange Cow Marketing Agency, “friction refers to any point in the customer experience that causes confusion, hesitation, delay, or frustration.”
Examples of friction that disrupt flow:
- Complicated onboarding processes
- Too many form fields
- Unclear next steps/CTAs
- Slow-loading pages
- Inconsistent messaging
- Complicated or lack of payment options
- Sites that aren’t mobile-friendly
When Friction is Actually a Good Thing
Now, friction in the customer’s journey isn’t always the enemy. There are actually times when adding friction can help you gain valuable customers.
If your business prioritizes lead quality over lead quantity, intentional friction can act as a filter. And, according to Directive Consulting, sometimes using friction as a “quality filter” can be helpful for “B2B funnels.”
Examples of purposeful friction:
- Longer qualification forms
- Application-style sign-ups
- Required discovery calls
- Required consultations
This approach helps ensure that only serious, well-aligned prospects will move forward with your business. And, whether or not your business needs friction depends on the type of products and services you offer and the quality of leads you are looking for.
The “Frog to Prince” Ratio
A helpful way to think about flow and friction is the “frog to prince” ratio. Too much flow, and you may kiss a lot of frogs, high lead volume, low quality. Too much friction, and you may scare away potential princes great fits who aren’t ready for too much complexity.
The goal is balance.
By designing your customer journey intentionally, you control how many frogs you meet before finding the right prince and how quickly that transformation happens.
The Bottom Line
Today’s customers don’t just buy products or services, they buy experiences. A smooth, thoughtful customer journey:
- Increases retention
- Improves lifetime value
- Builds trust and loyalty
- Turns customers into advocates
Businesses that understand this know the sale isn’t the finish line. It’s the starting point.
By reducing friction where it hurts, adding it where it helps, and focusing on long-term relationships, you create a customer journey that doesn’t just convert but keeps customers coming back.
Know the Journey Before They Do
Create seamless experiences that convert first-time buyers into lifelong advocates.
How EmoryDay Helps Guide Buyers Through the Journey
The EmoryDay team knows how important the customer journey is for our clients. Our team of digital marketing experts can help your business design a customer journey that keeps your clients coming back for more, and we can help you find the sweet spot between flow and friction
Get Your Free Account Today!
If you have any questions about our digital marketing services, just fill out our contact form or give us a call at (888) 494-3810.
Resources
https://www.zendesk.com/blog/buyer-journey/
https://business.adobe.com/blog/basics/buyers-journey-guide#buyers-journey-vs-customer-journey
https://www.oneorangecow.com/blog/designing-customer-journeys-reduce-friction
https://directiveconsulting.com/blog/friction-in-b2b-customer-journey/
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