Customer Journey Map in Practice: How to Find the Places Where a Business Loses Money Every Day

A typical situation: a customer sees an ad, visits the website, submits a form, receives a message, talks to a manager, and only then makes a purchase. In reports, only two points often remain: where the lead came from and whether there was a sale.

Between those points, there are steps where the company loses some customers every day. The form did not submit, the manager replied too late, no one followed up after a missed call, or important information got lost between the website and the CRM.

A Customer Journey Map shows the full route: stages, touchpoints, customer actions, and the places that need to be fixed. This approach helps identify problems in a specific interaction scenario.

Do Not Build One Map «For Everyone»

One map for all customers quickly turns into a general description. It is more practical to take one scenario: ad → product page → form submission → manager call → payment.

Repeat purchases, service bookings, product returns, and support requests should be analyzed separately. This makes it easier to see where the customer stops moving forward.

Look at the Real Journey

On an internal diagram, everything often looks perfect: the lead goes into the CRM, the manager calls right away, and the payment is received.

For an audit, take 30–50 real leads and check what actually happened to them.

For each stage, record:

• what the customer does;
• which channel they use to contact the business;
• which system receives the data;
• who is responsible for the next step;
• how long the transition takes;
• where customers most often stop.

After that, the CJM becomes a map of specific losses, not a presentation.

Calculate Losses Between Stages

For example, advertising generated 500 leads. Of those, 450 reached the managers, contact was made with 300, 220 received an offer, and 80 paid.

You do not need to immediately fix the stage with the largest drop-off. First, find the reason. If the leads are unqualified, check the advertising. If customers waited several hours for a response, the issue is already in lead handling.

For each transition, three metrics are enough: how many customers entered the stage, how many moved forward, and how much revenue the next stage generates.

Check the Transitions Between Systems

Some losses happen between the website, CRM, and messages.

After a form submission, the CRM should create a record, the manager should receive a notification, and the customer should receive a confirmation via SMS or Viber. If one step fails, the next one already starts with a delay.

SMS Club supports integrations with CRM, CMS, and e-commerce platforms, while SMS and Viber can be connected via API. During the audit, check whether the record was created, whether the lead source was saved, whether the message was sent, and whether the manager can see the previous history.

Look at What Happens on the Website

The path to purchase does not always move forward. A customer opens a product page, returns to the catalog, visits the shipping page, starts checkout, and leaves.

These transitions can be conveniently analyzed through Path Exploration in Google Analytics 4. The tool shows the sequence of events and pages users move through.

Separate steps should be tracked as events. For e-commerce, Google Analytics supports events such as product views, add to cart, checkout starts, and purchases.

Do Not Confuse Missing Data With No Problem

If the CRM does not save the reason for a lost lead, it does not mean there are no lost leads. If the first response time is not tracked, it is impossible to evaluate how quickly leads are handled.

These gaps should also be marked on the map. First, measurement is set up, and only then should the scenario be changed.

For example, a company sees 300 leads and 40 sales, but does not know how many customers received a response within the first 10 minutes. Without this, it is hard to understand the reason for the losses.

What to Fix First

After an audit, there are usually many problems. Priority should go to the points where a significant share of customers passes through, where losses are visible, and where the reason is clear.

If leads sit too long without a response, automate handoff and notifications. If customers abandon checkout at the shipping stage, review that step. If contact stops after the first missed call, add a repeat follow-up scenario.

You do not need to rebuild the entire journey at once. One fixed point with a large flow of customers will bring more value than ten minor changes.

Return to the Map

CJM should not be done only once. After changes to the website, advertising, CRM, or communication channels, the customer journey changes too.

Regularly review the form submission, first response, manager contact, payment, and repeat inquiry. Then the map answers a practical question: where the company loses customers, why it happens, and what should be fixed first.

FAQ

Where should you start with a Customer Journey Map?

Choose one specific scenario, such as a purchase after a lead from advertising. Collect data from the website, CRM, and communications, and write down all stages from the first contact to the sale.

How many stages should the map have?

There is no fixed number. You need enough stages to see important transitions without unnecessary detail. For a simple sale, the main steps from first contact to payment are enough.

What data is needed for the audit?

First of all, the lead source, creation time, first response time, CRM statuses, contact attempts, and final outcome. For the website, events and the sequence of transitions before the form submission or purchase are useful.

How do you identify the main weak point?

Compare the number of customers at each stage, the loss rate, and the impact on sales. Fix the problem first if it regularly affects a significant share of customers and has a clear cause.