The signature is in. The sales rep celebrates, marks the deal as won and moves on to the next one. For the customer, it is only just beginning. What he experiences in the first months decides whether he comes back, whether he recommends you and whether that second order ever comes. In this article you read how to set up the customer journey after the deal, with four fixed moments in the first 100 days.
Why the customer journey does not stop at the order
Many customer journeys are drawn from the sales side. They start at first contact and end at the decision. But most revenue in SMBs comes from existing customers. The period after the deal is exactly where a customer decides whether your promise holds.
It is also the period where things often go wrong. The sales rep is gone, the delivery team does not know the exact agreements, and the customer has to tell his story again. Nobody does anything wrong, but nobody owns it.
The first 100 days in four moments
You do not have to plan every day. Four fixed moments are enough to give the customer the feeling that you have things under control:
- Day 1 to 3: confirm. Within three working days the customer hears who will help him from here, what is going to happen and when. Preferably by phone, with a short email afterwards.
- Around delivery or start: be there. The sales rep or the regular contact is present at the start, or calls that day. The customer sees that the people from sales have not disappeared.
- Day 30: first evaluation. What is going well, what is disappointing? A short conversation with two or three fixed questions.
- Day 90 to 100: look back and look ahead. Has the customer's problem been solved? And what is coming up in the year ahead?
An owner and a role for every moment
A moment without an owner happens the first time and never again. Capture per moment who does it: the account manager, inside sales, the project manager or the technical expert. Also capture exactly when: "within three working days of signing" can be carried out, "soon after the order" cannot.
Look at the handover while you are at it. What does the sales rep need to record so that the delivery team does not have to ask the customer again what he already told them? Think of the reason for buying, who decides and what was promised.
How to set up the customer journey after the deal, step by step
- Look back at five recent customers. What did they hear from you after the signature, and when? Where was it quiet? Where did a complaint come in?
- Choose your four moments. Use the division above as a start, and shift the timing so it fits how you deliver.
- Write the goal of each moment in one sentence. For example for day 30: "We know what is going well and what the customer wants done differently, and we act on it within a week."
- Assign a role to each moment. Not a name, a role. Then it still stands when someone leaves.
- Decide what the sales rep hands over. Three or four fixed points, no more.
- Put the moments in the CRM or the calendar. Preferably automatically, as soon as a deal is marked as won.
Three questions for the conversation on day 30
The conversation on day 30 does not have to take an hour. Fifteen minutes is often enough, as long as you ask the same questions every time. An example:
- What is going well? Let the customer start. You often hear something you can use, with other customers too.
- What is disappointing or different from what you expected? Keep asking. A small point now is a big complaint in three months.
- Is there anything we should know? New people, other plans, a move. The kind of things that otherwise only surface later.
Record the answers briefly. That way, whoever calls on day 90 can pick up where the last conversation ended.
Where a win point fits
The first 100 days are a good place for a win point. The customer expects little here. A concrete moment that you do just a little differently stands out all the more. A few fictional examples to show the form:
- Wholesaler. After the first delivery, someone calls the foreman on the construction site to ask whether everything was complete.
- Software company. On day 30, someone drops by with an overview of what the team already uses and what it does not yet.
- Installation company. After handover, the customer receives a short video explanation, recorded on their own premises.
Choose one, not three. It has to be possible for every customer, not only the largest.
Common mistakes after the deal
The sales rep disappears all at once. The customer has built a relationship with one person. If that person goes silent after the signature, it feels like a sales trick. A phone call at the start is often enough.
Evaluating only when there is a complaint. Then every conversation is about what went wrong. Plan the evaluation in advance, even when everything is going well.
Planning too many moments. Ten contact moments in three months is more than anyone keeps up. Four that always happen are worth more.
Doing everything for the big customers. A smaller customer can become the big customer of later. Choose moments you can carry out for everyone, and make the form lighter where needed.
The step to up- and cross-sell
The conversation on day 90 is also the moment to hear what else is going on. Do not do that with a sales pitch, but with a question: what is on the agenda for next year? Whoever has done the first 100 days well gets an honest answer. That is the best way in to a next order.
After that, the customer moves into the regular contact cadence that belongs to his customer class. That way attention does not stop at day 100, but takes a form you can sustain.
Frequently asked questions
What is the customer journey after the sale?
It is the part of the customer journey that starts at the signature. It describes what the customer notices from you during delivery, start and the first months afterwards, and who takes care of that.
How do you ensure a good handover from sales to delivery?
Agree which three or four things the sales rep always records: the reason for buying, who decides, what was promised and what the customer expects first. Also have the sales rep present at the start, or calling.
When do you evaluate with a new customer?
A first time around day 30, when the customer has seen enough to say something. A second time around day 90 to 100, to look back and look ahead to the coming year.
How do you improve customer retention in SMBs?
Start with the first 100 days. Customers who notice in that period that you do what you promised stay more often. After that, a fixed contact cadence per customer class helps.
Capturing it
Capture the four moments in the building block Activities of building layer 3, under the customer relationship phase, with the role and the timing for each moment. A win point in this period goes in Win points, and what the sales rep has to hand over in Handovers of building layer 2. The cadence afterwards and the opportunities for a next order go in Contact cadence and Up- and cross-sell of building layer 4. For your most important customers, you capture in the new building block Account plans of building layer 4 what you want to achieve with each account. If you later change a phase, you see which activities need another look.