GNT #139: Look at the map

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read time: 4 minutes
 

Have you ever watched a promising deal fizzle out?

The calls went well, the proposal was sent… and then silence. It's a terrible feeling. Like they disappeared into a black hole.

That’s where one of my clients was stuck.

me: “Walk me through how a customer decides to buy from you.”
them: “We have a discovery call, send a proposal, and they accept.”
me: “Always?”
them: “Well… sometimes it drags on for months. Honestly, I guess I don’t really know.”

That was the problem.

We weren't looking at missing opportunities, they were missing the map.

And maybe you’ve felt the same. You’re putting in effort, but if someone asked you to draw the steps your customers take before buying, could you do it with confidence?

Customers don’t just stumble into buying. They take steps, often predictable ones, that you can see, document, and improve.

But if you don’t know the path, you can’t guide them.

That day I started sketching a rough map of their customer journey. Within weeks, they realized the problem wasn’t the proposal itself, it was everything leading up to it. Prospects were stalling in the research phase, asking for more details, looping in extra stakeholders, and dragging out timelines.

So we made three small shifts:

• Created a simple FAQ sheet to head off repeat objections
• Built a one-page summary for busy execs who didn’t want to read the full deck
• Added a 3-day follow-up email after proposals

Within a month, multiple deals were moving again. And the team had clarity on where to focus next.

In today’s newsletter, you’ll learn:

• The 5 stages customers go through - so you can stop guessing and start guiding them
• How to identify the moments that matter - and focus on the touchpoints that really drive growth
• A framework to spot gaps and roadblocks - so you can remove friction and make buying easier

By the end, you’ll have a clear first draft of your customer journey map - and a simple way to finally make sense of how your customers buy.

Let’s dig in.
 

Step 1: Start with a real customer

Before you can map a journey, you need to know who’s taking it.

Don’t start with a made-up profile. Anchor your first map in someone who’s already bought from you.

Look at how they first found you, what questions they asked, where they hesitated, and what finally tipped them into saying yes. 

Your first map does not need to be perfect. The goal is to get out of theory and into reality.

✏️ Action: Choose one current or very recent customer and write down:

• Where they first discovered you

• The questions or doubts they had

• A moment when they almost didn’t move forward

• What ultimately made them buy

Keep it simple. One paragraph is enough to start.

Step 2: Plot the stages

Every buying journey has steps. For most businesses, they look something like this:

• Awareness: they first hear about you

• Research: they compare options and gather details

• Decision: stakeholders evaluate and choose

• Experience: they use your product or service

• Advocacy: they recommend you to others

Each stage comes with its own questions, delays, and opportunities.

✏️ Action: Take the real customer you chose in Step 1. Write down what they did in each stage. Who got involved? What slowed them down? Where did they move quickly?

Step 3: Mark the moments that matter

Not every interaction carries equal weight. Some moments either build momentum or bring everything to a halt.

Think of the points where your customer’s trust swings: 

• Did they feel excited after the first interaction?

• Did your response to their question give clarity - or confusion?

• Did they walk away from a call confident to take the next step? 

These are the “moments that matter.” They’re turning points, the spots where your relationship either strengthens or weakens.

✏️ Action: Circle 2–3 turning points in your customer’s journey. Ask: If we nailed just these, how much smoother would the path to purchase feel?

Step 4: Spot the roadblocks

While moments that matter are about turning points, roadblocks are the patterns that slow people down again and again.

These are the frustrations that make the journey harder than it should be:

• Long wait times for answers

• Confusing sign-up or checkout processes

• Steps that require too much effort or approval

They’re the equivalent of potholes on a road trip. Not always dramatic, but enough to shake the journey and make people think twice about continuing.

✏️ Action: For each stage of your customer’s journey, write down one friction point that slowed them down. Then brainstorm a simple way to smooth it out.

Step 5: Don't forget the feelings

It’s easy to map steps and spot roadblocks, but the real driver of decisions is how people feel along the way.

Customers rarely remember every detail of your process. They remember whether the experience felt easy or stressful, encouraging or frustrating.

Think of it like this:

• At the Awareness stage, are they curious and excited or overwhelmed?
• During Research, are they hopeful or anxious about making the wrong choice?
• After purchase, do they feel supported or left on their own?

These emotions are the invisible layer of every journey map. If you miss them, you miss what really drives decisions.

✏️ Action: Go back to each stage of your map and write one word to describe how your customer felt. Then ask: What could we do to dial down the negative and amplify the positive?

✨ Want a shortcut? I put together a free Canva template you can use to create your own customer journey map. [Grab it → here]. File > Make a copy to edit your own.

And if you’d like help filling it in, or want feedback on your map, I take on a handful of coaching clients each quarter. [Learn more → here]
 

Takeaway

Most businesses guess their way forward. The best ones make the path visible.

When you map the journey, you stop chasing customers - and start guiding them. 

Start with one customer today. You’ll see more than you expect. 

I'm always rooting for you. See you next week.

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If you liked this article, you might also like:

GNT #064: The important question no one asks you
GNT #56: How to ask for testimonials and use them to sell more
GNT #093: Filling the Funnel with Purpose

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