Make a one-page map of the stages for one customer type and mark the stage where you lose the most people.
Set aside about thirty minutes, open the journey map template, and gather the evidence you already have: WhatsApp chats with customers, your reviews, your website or shop statistics, and any notes from past enquiries. The stages, the funnel and what each stage needs are only models on their own. When you put them on one page for one real kind of customer, you can see where your business loses people and what to fix first.
Pick a customer type narrow enough that the journey is roughly the same from one person to the next. "Parents" is too broad. Parents of a Primary 5 child who is struggling with maths and looking for weekly tuition is about the right width. Some other types of a similar width are office workers near a hawker centre who want a quick lunch, first-time buyers of a custom cake for a child's first birthday, and young couples asking a financial adviser about insurance after their wedding.
If you serve several customer types, pick the one that brings in the most revenue or the one you most want more of. You can map the others later in the same way. For now, a working description of the customer is enough. Module 3 goes further into choosing a target customer.
The template has one row for each of the five stages from Lesson 2.1: awareness, consideration, decision, retention and advocacy. For each stage, write three things:
Where they look: the places this customer goes at that stage, such as search, a parents' Telegram or WhatsApp group, Google Maps, Instagram, an AI assistant or a friend. What they ask: the question in the customer's head, in their own words. "Is it normal that my child can't do fractions?" is more useful than a label like "seeking information". What you give them now: what your business currently offers at that stage. Be honest, and if you offer nothing, write nothing.
You can start with guesses, but check each one against what actually happened. Scroll back through your enquiry messages and look for questions that come up again and again. Read your reviews and note the words customers use. Check which pages of your website people visit and where they leave. If you sell online, look at abandoned carts, which show you the people who reached the decision stage and then stopped.
Mark every note as evidence or guess. If the evidence contradicts a guess, go with the evidence.
Priya runs a maths centre in Tampines (an invented example). She made her map for parents of Primary 5 children who are struggling with maths.
At awareness, these parents look to other parents, school results slips and a quick search. They ask whether their child is just having a bad term or needs help. Priya gave them nothing at this stage, because her posts were all about class schedules.
At consideration, they look at Google reviews, parents' group chats and the centre's Instagram. They ask about price, class size and whether the classes work for children who are behind. Priya had twelve Google reviews but no prices anywhere online, and in most of her enquiry chats the fee was the first question.
At decision, parents go to a WhatsApp chat with Priya. They ask whether their child can try a class first and what happens if the child doesn't like it. Priya offers a trial class, and most enquirers book one.
At retention, parents watch their child's mood and marks and ask whether the tuition is helping. Priya gave them a monthly invoice and only had a chat with a parent when the parent asked for one. Several families left after one term without saying why.
At advocacy, parents look to the next parent who asks them, and the question is whether they would recommend the centre. Priya gave them nothing at this stage, although most of her students came to her by referral.
Priya expected to circle awareness, but her evidence pointed to a different stage. Families were leaving after one term, and the families who stayed were the source of her referrals. She circled retention.
To find the gap, read down the page and compare the middle column, what they ask, with the last column, what you give them now. Circle the stage where the distance between what the customer needs and what you give them is largest. That is the stage to fix first. Circle only one stage. Most maps show several gaps, and owners who try to fix them all at once end up doing a little of everything again.
A finished map fits on one page and covers all five stages for one customer type. It marks evidence separately from guesses and has exactly one stage circled. Someone else in your business should be able to read it and agree or argue with it.
Once your gap is circled, the last part of the template asks you to write down which stage you will fix first and your reason. Priya's reasoning took her two sentences. Yours shouldn't need many more, and if you can't explain the choice that briefly, go back to your evidence before you write.
Fill in the map template for one customer type. Then write two sentences on which stage you will fix first and why.
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