Importance of Understanding the Consumption Map for Startups

It’s very crucial for any Startup to understand the consumption map, where a Startup touches its customers. There are usually 17 customer touch points; such as Need assessment, Awareness, Search, Solution Design, Selection, Financing, Delivery, Installation, Relocation, Use, Support, Complaint handling, Replacement, Service, Disposal, Upgrade, Product Development. All these points are highly lined to each other. There is also a high correlation between a Startup’s efficiency in addressing customers’ pains at these touch points and the success of the Startup.

Startups must know, how do people become aware of their need for the product or service, how do customers find the offering, how do customers make their final selections, how do customers order or purchase the product or service, how is the product or service delivered, what happens when the product or service is delivered, how is the product installed, how is the product or service paid for, how is the product stored, how is the product moved around, what is the customer really using it for, what do customers need help with when they use the product, what about returns or exchanges, how is the product repaired or serviced, how the customer complaints are handled received and addressed, what happens when the product is disposed of. There may be gaps/loopholes at one or multiple touch points of the consumption map in case of your competitors. For example; when a customer buys an AC, (s)he expects the AC to be installed on the same day. But, most of the cases the installation happens next day or next to next day. If an AC manufacturer bridges this gap and assures installation within 2 hours of delivery may create a positive impact on customer feedback and ultimately to its revenue. Similarly, Startups must understand the gaps exist at different touch point(s) and address the same proactively to improve its market share. All these 17 touch points may not be applicable for all Startups, but of course majority of these are applicable. Most of the time, Startups neither understand these touch points, nor try to address the customers’ pains at these points. A startup must understand the consumer behavior at each point of consumption map to address the pain points of consumer to achieve a sustainable competitive edge.