The Customer Journey Map I Drew on a Napkin That Changed My Event Business

In 2015 I was running events for a foreign beverage brand in Japan.

We had a product people liked at the event. But second purchases were almost zero.

I couldn't figure out why. Then someone handed me a napkin and said: "Draw the steps a customer takes from first hearing about you to buying twice."

I drew it. And immediately saw the problem.

The Map

Here's what I drew:

1. Awareness — They saw our social media post
2. Interest — They showed up to the event

3. Experience — They tried the drink, liked it
4. Gap — ??? Nothing happened here
5. Purchase (2nd) — We hoped for this

The gap was everything.

After the event, there was zero contact. No follow-up. No reminder. No reason to buy again. We'd spent all our energy getting people to the event and then just... let them leave.

The customer journey had a cliff.

What We Changed

We added three things between step 3 and step 5:

LINE follow: At the event, we invited people to follow our LINE account for "exclusive member deals." About 30% did.

Day 3 message: Three days after the event, we sent one message: "How are you feeling? We have a limited offer this week."

Day 14 re-invite: Two weeks later, an invite to a smaller, members-only tasting.

Second purchase rate went from near-zero to about 18%.

What This Framework Is

Two years later I learned this was called Customer Journey Mapping.

The insight wasn't complicated: you have to think about every step a customer takes, not just the moment of first contact. Most small businesses optimize the front of the journey (awareness, interest) and completely ignore what happens after the first interaction.

The money is in the back.