When a business owner says "I need more customers", they usually have a specific problem hiding inside that sentence. Maybe nobody has heard of them. Maybe people hear about them but do not trust them. Maybe people want to buy but the payment is confusing. A marketer who can find where customers are dropping off is far more useful than one who just posts more. Junior job adverts in Ghana often mention lead generation and conversion; both are parts of this journey.
The five stages
A simple customer journey has five stages:
- Aware. The person learns the business exists, for example from a friend's WhatsApp Status or a TikTok video.
- Interested. They want to know more. They check the page, look at photos and prices, or ask a question.
- Decide. They compare with other options and decide to buy. Trust matters most here: reviews, clear prices, a real phone number.
- Buy. They pay. In Ghana this is often a mobile money payment after a chat, or cash on delivery.
- Return and recommend. A happy customer buys again and tells others, which starts the journey for someone new.
People do not always move neatly from one stage to the next. Some see a post and buy within minutes. Others watch a business for months before their first order. The stages are a thinking tool, not a strict rule.