The client journey: from first search to quote

That stretch runs from someone's first search for an answer to the moment they send an enquiry. This is where most decisions are made, and where your website has the best chance of influencing them.

A client journey covers everything a client does, thinks and wonders about, from the first need to a purchase, and where they encounter your business along the way. This article focuses on the first half: the path to requesting a quote.

When someone buys a pair of shoes, the journey is short and the decision is theirs alone. When a company buys a service, things look different.

• More people are involved. The person searching is rarely the one signing the contract.
• The journey is longer. Weeks or months, not minutes.
• A lot happens before anyone gets in touch. Buyers read, compare and rule out options on their own. By the time a salesperson receives the enquiry, much of the decision has often already been made.
• Risk matters more than price. Buyers are afraid of making the wrong choice, not just paying too much.

Buyers encounter your business in many places along the way: in search results and AI answers, in a LinkedIn post from someone at your company, through a colleague's recommendation, at a trade show or seminar, in a newsletter, or in a conversation with a salesperson. Each touchpoint adds to their impression of you.

Your website is the touchpoint all the others lead to. Someone who sees a post, gets a recommendation or meets you at a trade show will almost always visit your website to check you out. That's why your website does much of the selling, often before you even know the buyer exists. But it doesn't work alone: what it says needs to be consistent with what your salespeople and colleagues say in other channels.

We tend to break the journey down by what the buyer needs at each stage, rather than follow a generic model. Four steps are enough for most service businesses. For each one, we look at where the buyer encounters you and what your website needs to do.

At this point, they're not looking for you. They're looking for an answer. How much does a new website cost? What's the difference between two systems? How do others approach this? Searches are broad and often phrased as questions.

Where buyers encounter you: search results and AI answers, posts and articles shared on LinkedIn, newsletters, talks and seminars.

What your website needs: articles and guides that answer the question directly, without a sales pitch. This is where you build trust, and where AI services find their answers.

Common mistake: only having service pages. That means you won't show up until buyers already know what they need, by which point others have already shaped their thinking.

Now they know what they need and are looking for someone who can deliver it. Searches become more specific: a service plus a location, a service plus an industry, or comparisons between providers.

Where buyers encounter you: searches by service and location, recommendations from colleagues and professional networks, trade shows, comparison sites and adverts.

What your website needs: service pages that clearly explain what you do, who you do it for and what sets you apart. Examples of work that reflect the buyer's own situation.

Common mistake: service pages that describe your business rather than the buyer's problem. "We are a full-service agency with extensive experience" doesn't help anyone choose.

At this stage, they read more carefully, often with colleagues. They're looking for reasons to cross you off the list. Roughly how much will it cost? How does a project work? Who would we be working with? Have they done anything similar?

Where buyers encounter you: an initial call or meeting with a salesperson, references the buyer contacts directly, your team's LinkedIn profiles.

What your website needs: answers to the questions that make buyers hesitate. An explanation of how you work, an indicative price or how you calculate it, named team members, and case studies with results.

Common mistake: hiding the information buyers need to convince their manager. If they can't find it, they'll move on to the next name on the list. Another is giving different information about pricing, process or what's included on the website and in sales conversations.

This is the shortest step, but it's where most buyers drop off. The form is too long, the phone number is hard to find, or it's unclear what happens after they click send.

Where buyers encounter you: the form, phone, email or a direct message to someone they've already spoken to.

What your website needs: a clear way to get in touch from every page where buyers might be ready to take that step. Explain what happens next: who will contact them, and when.

Common mistake: putting a contact page in the menu and assuming that's enough.

You don't need a workshop full of sticky notes. Start with what you already have.

1. Ask your salespeople what clients already know when they get in touch, where they heard about you and what they almost always ask first.
2. Read your quote requests. Which pages did the client visit beforehand? What do they write in their message? Consider asking how they found you in the form.
3. Look at the search terms that bring people to you today. At which stages of the journey do you appear, and where are you missing?
4. List your touchpoints. Search, LinkedIn, trade shows, newsletters, sales meetings, recommendations. Which stages do they cover, and do they lead people to your website or to a person?
5. Review your website step by step. Does each stage have a page that answers the buyer's question? Does it lead them to the next step?

You'll usually end up with a list of gaps. Perhaps you have service pages but no answers for someone at stage one. Perhaps everything is there, but none of the pages lead anywhere.

A client journey and a persona go hand in hand. The persona describes what the buyer wants to achieve. The client journey describes the path to getting there.

If you have two or three personas, create a client journey for each. Someone comparing providers isn't following the same path as someone who has only just realised they have a problem.

Our guide Website public procurement walks you through the whole process, from the brief and target audience to the requirements specification. Download the guide