At a Glance
A touchpoint (point of contact) is any moment in which a (potential) customer comes into contact with your company, your brand, or your product—online or offline. From a Google search to your website, the initial call, and the invoice: every touchpoint influences the customer experience and brand image. Identifying and optimizing all touchpoints along the customer journey is the foundation for customer success and sustainable customer retention.
1. Definition: What is a touchpoint?
A touchpoint is any moment of contact between a (potential) customer and a company. Touchpoints can be direct (website, sales conversation, email) or indirect (third-party reviews, recommendations, social media mentions).
Each individual touchpoint shapes the perception of your brand and influences the purchase decision. In B2B, a customer typically goes through 8–15 touchpoints before making a decision. The sum of all touchpoint experiences makes up the customer experience.
In the omnichannel era, designing all touchpoints consistently is a challenge: website, social media, email, personal consulting, trade fairs—everywhere, the same brand positioning and quality must be tangible.
2. Types of touchpoints
Digital touchpoints
- Website and SEO: Often the first point of contact—UX and content quality are crucial.
- AI answers: Through LLMO and GEO, your brand becomes visible in ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Google AI Overviews—an increasingly important touchpoint.
- Social media: LinkedIn posts, personal branding, interactions, and comments.
- Email: Newsletters, automated sequences, personal correspondence.
- Content: Blog posts, glossary entries, whitepapers, videos, podcasts.
- Online reviews: Google Reviews, industry portals, customer references.
Personal touchpoints
- Initial call, consulting appointment, workshop
- Trade fairs, conferences, networking events
- Phone and video calls, support requests
Administrative touchpoints
- Preparing proposals, drafting contracts
- Invoicing, payment process
- Onboarding materials, documentation
3. Touchpoints in the customer journey
Touchpoints are distributed across the entire customer journey:
Pre-purchase (before the purchase)
Google search → glossary entry → whitepaper download → LinkedIn profile → webinar → initial call. This phase is about attention, building trust, and lead generation. The sales funnel structures these touchpoints.
Purchase (during the purchase)
Proposal presentation → negotiation → contract draft → signature. What matters here is professionalism, speed, and a clear value proposition.
Post-purchase (after the purchase)
Onboarding → project delivery → business reviews → NPS survey → upselling conversation → recommendation. Customer success manages the post-purchase touchpoints and directly influences retention.
4. Optimizing touchpoints
- Consistency: Every touchpoint must deliver the same brand quality. A perfect website is of no use if the proposal arrives as a Word document.
- Relevance: Every touchpoint must provide value—not only for the company, but for the customer. Avoid empty follow-up emails and generic newsletters.
- Seamlessness: The transition between touchpoints must be smooth. If a customer moves from the website to the initial call, the consultant should know the background.
- Emotion: Positive emotional moments—an unexpected onboarding gift, a personal thank-you note—stay in people’s minds and set you apart.
- Measurement: Measure the quality of each touchpoint using KPIs (NPS after specific interactions, conversion rate per touchpoint).
5. Practical perspective: Touchpoints in SMEs
In SMEs, there is often a discrepancy: personal touchpoints (consulting, workshop) are excellent, but digital touchpoints (website, email, social media) lag behind.
Typical touchpoint map for an innovation consulting firm:
- Decision-maker googles “business model innovation” → finds glossary entry (SEO touchpoint)
- Reads additional glossary entries → builds trust (content touchpoint)
- Sees the founder’s LinkedIn post → follows the profile (social touchpoint)
- Downloads whitepaper → becomes a lead (conversion touchpoint)
- Receives an email sequence with practical examples (automation touchpoint)
- Books an initial call → personal consulting (sales touchpoint)
- Receives a tailored proposal (proposal touchpoint)
- Workshop delivery → wow experience (delivery touchpoint)
- Follow-up with results documentation (success touchpoint)
- Recommendation to business partners (advocacy touchpoint)
6. Step-by-step: Touchpoint mapping
- List all touchpoints: Brainstorm with your team: Where does a customer come into contact with us? Digital, personal, administrative.
- Assign to the customer journey: Assign each touchpoint to the phase: pre-purchase, purchase, post-purchase.
- Adopt the customer perspective: Evaluate each touchpoint from the customer’s point of view: What does the customer expect? Is it met or exceeded?
- Identify weak points: Where are there breaks, inconsistencies, or disappointing experiences?
- Prioritize and optimize: Start with the touchpoints that have the greatest impact on conversion and retention.
- Review regularly: Touchpoints change—new channels are added (LLMO), others lose relevance.
Bring all touchpoints up to excellence?
We help you map your customer journey, identify critical touchpoints, and create a consistent customer experience across all channels.
7. Frequently Asked Questions
How many touchpoints does a typical B2B customer have?
In B2B, a customer typically goes through 8–15 touchpoints before making a purchase decision. For complex offerings, it can also be 20+. The number continues to rise as digital channels such as AI chatbots, social media, and content platforms create new touchpoints.
Which touchpoint is the most important?
There is no single most important touchpoint—the chain is only as strong as its weakest link. Particularly critical, however, are the first touchpoint (first impression), the conversion touchpoint (where an interested party becomes a lead/customer), and the post-purchase touchpoints (which determine retention and recommendations).
How do I create a touchpoint map?
Start with a whiteboard or a tool: draw the customer journey as a timeline with the phases awareness, consideration, decision, retention. Place each touchpoint on the timeline and evaluate it: What emotion does it trigger? Does it meet customer expectations? Where are there breaks? Update the map regularly.