How do we get more customers? How do we win more business?
That’s the fundamental question most marketers and sales leaders ask themselves. To understand how to win, you need to understand what’s happening now and where you have space to play. Specifically, you need to understand your target audience and their journey to your brand and to your competitors’ brands.
But what if, like many companies, you don’t have the luxury of time or money? You need to shift your strategy, and you need to do it now. Maybe you are an emerging brand, and research isn’t part of the culture yet; maybe your organization has been around for a while, and you need to convince people internally – using limited resources – that something needs to change. Full-scale customer journey research or segmentation studies deliver great insights to inform sales and marketing efforts, but they are not always practical when budgets are tight, timelines are short, and smart decisions need to be made.
So, what happens when you need decision-grade insights but don’t have the budget or bandwidth for lengthy foundational research? That’s exactly the situation that a client of ours faced.
Here’s how we solved it
Our client needed to understand how triggers for the purchase journey related to the benefits to the buyer. For example, there are probably a lot of different reasons you might be in the market for a new car. Maybe you need a second car, or maybe the one you have is falling apart, or maybe this is your first car. Your reasons for buying will impact what you’re looking for. And that’s what we’re trying to uncover here – what triggers drive which benefits. For example, needing a second car might mean you are more focused on cost per month. But if this is your first car, you might be looking for a car that just feels like you. And how can sales teams use this information to inform how they speak to their customers?
For our client, it was about understanding the journey that businesses take when switching their travel and expense systems. They had a hypothesis that there were lots of different paths organizations take to get to that point. They wanted to understand how to intercept those paths and set their sales teams up for success.
So we started with identifying and understanding the triggers.
Step 1: Identify the trigger
First, we uncover the key triggers that push people (or businesses) to act. Using a MaxDiff exercise (a fancy way of saying “forced-choice ranking”), we ask your audience to pick the most and least important pain points from a curated list. The result? A clear hierarchy of what’s driving dissatisfaction—whether it’s rising costs, outdated systems, poor experiences, or something else entirely.
We might find that “need to reduce manual processes,” “concern about data security,” or “identifying fraud is too manual” are the biggest triggers for all business decision maker to consider a new T&E solution.
Step 2: Define success
Next, we shift our focus to outcomes – or what people really want from a solution or experience. A separate MaxDiff (forced-choice ranking) exercise ranks desired outcomes like improved efficiency, better satisfaction, or streamlined processes. This gives us a prioritized list of what success looks like for your market.
What about the successes for business decision makers evaluating travel and expense solutions? They might prioritize “improving financial reporting efficiency,” “streamlining reconciliation,” and “improve compliance.”
While this step – and the one previous – provides value, it doesn’t help you understand the true journey that a decision maker is on while they’re evaluating new options.
Step 3: Connect the dots
Here’s where the magic happens. By linking the top triggers with the most sought-after outcomes, we uncover the pathways decision-makers are likely to take. This step reveals not just what motivates users to act, but how their priorities align with the solutions they’re seeking.
In this case, data from the two exercises reveal an interesting connection: for those who selected “experiencing growth in employee travel” as their primary trigger to change, the desired outcomes are “improve budgeting, forecasting, and cash flow control” and “accessing your system from anywhere via website or mobile app.” This insight highlights that cost savings alone aren’t enough; businesses experiencing rapid growth are prioritizing control and accessibility. To win over these organizations, our client can emphasize its robust reporting capabilities, real-time data insights, and seamless mobile experience—demonstrating how it empowers businesses to manage their growing travel expenses effectively and maintain financial oversight, even as their teams are on the move.
Step 4: Profile people by journey
Once we’ve mapped the journeys, we can layer the firmographic, demographic, and behavioral data to build detailed profiles of the people behind them—whether they are consumers making personal choices or business leaders driving organizational decisions. These profiles don’t just tell you who they are; they’ll reveal what motivates them, how they think, and what they need. With this level of insight, marketing and sales teams can craft hyper-targeted strategies that resonate with the right people at the right time, driving engagement and results.
For our decision makers on the “growth in travel” journey, we might find that security and ease of use matter to them when considering T&E solutions. Behavioral data shows that these decision-makers are more likely to find potential vendors through colleagues and vendor meetings rather than online searches or ROI Tools. They are also more likely to be Finance or IT professionals working at Growing or Established companies, compared to those on other buyer journeys.
Armed with this profile, our client can prioritize building relationships with key influencers and attending industry events where these decision-makers are likely to be present. Marketing materials will now emphasize the solution’s robust security features, intuitive user interface, and seamless integration with existing financial systems. Sales teams will now focus on building trust and credibility through peer referrals and demonstrating the solution’s ability to scale with the company’s growth while maintaining data security and satisfaction.
This is the heart of what we call our Journey MaxDiff
Journey MaxDiff is a purpose-built methodology designed to map these connections. It goes beyond surface-level stats, revealing the likely paths decision-makers might take and overlaying detailed profiles of who’s on each path. This roadmap helps you understand not just what drives decisions, but how different types of people navigate their journey.
Whether you’re exploring consumer behavior, optimizing B2B sales strategies, or refining product offerings, this methodology gives you actionable insights more efficiently than traditional customer journey analysis, so you can make smarter, better decisions now. Think of it as customer journey’s scrappy little sibling: just as smart, but quicker and more focused.
Insights that drive outcomes
Journey MaxDiff proves you don’t need a massive budget to unlock powerful insights. By focusing on the triggers and outcomes that matter most – and profiling the people behind these decisions – it gives you the clarity to act with confidence and the tools to deliver real business impact. Whether you’re optimizing your marketing strategy or refining your sales pitch, this methodology helps you stay ahead of the curve.
Because, at the end of the day, it’s not just about understanding the journey – it’s about knowing the people who take it and delivering better outcomes for everyone involved.
Let’s explore how Journey MaxDiff can tackle your unique challenges and uncover insights that drive results. Reach out today—we’d love to collaborate with you. Connect with Margaret DiMarzio at mdimarzio@psbinsights.com to learn more.
