Building a Planned Journey Funnel Diagram

Build a planned journey funnel diagram that shows stakeholders how buyers flow through each stage, where drop-off happens and why.

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At a Glance

Overview

A planned journey funnel diagram shows how buyers move through the stages of a long, deliberate purchase and how many keep your brand at each step. It is the picture that turns consideration data and cross-stage analysis into something a leadership team can read in a minute. This skill covers building that diagram and the journey map that goes with it.

The diagram rests on the stage model from the Planned Journey Framework. The stages themselves, and how to define them for a category, are covered in the skill on the latent, evaluation and buying stages. This skill assumes those definitions exist and focuses on showing the flow between them.

A customer journey funnel visualization for a planned journey differs from an ecommerce conversion funnel in two ways. First, the stages are defined by buyer state, and the volume at each stage usually comes from research as well as analytics. Second, buyers do not only narrow their options: brands are added during evaluation, and buyers drop back to latent when a trigger fades. Even general descriptions of the purchase funnel now note that modern funnels have many entrance points and that people can leave and enter again (Purchase funnel). A good diagram shows those flows instead of hiding them.

The diagram is for funnel visualization stakeholders: executives who fund the work, stage owners who act on it and analysts who maintain it. Each group needs a different level of detail, so the output is usually a simple headline funnel plus a more detailed flow diagram and journey map for working sessions. SKIM's decision journey approach includes visualizing the journeys landscape and then socializing findings internally, for example through dashboards and workshops (SKIM six steps).

How It Works

The headline funnel shows your brand's share of buyers at each stage: in the latent consideration set, in the evaluation set, chosen at buying. Bar widths are proportional to the numbers, so the eye reads the size of each loss directly. Each bar is labelled with the absolute number as well as the share of the previous stage, because a small percentage of a large stage can be more buyers than a large percentage of a small one.

The flow diagram adds the movements the headline funnel hides. A Sankey diagram suits this well, because the width of each flow is proportional to its quantity (Sankey diagram). Flows can show buyers keeping your brand, buyers switching to named competitors, buyers adding your brand late and buyers dropping back to latent. Showing losses by destination makes the competitive story visible, because the diagram names the rival that won each group of lost buyers and the stage where it happened.

The journey map adds the reasons. Nielsen Norman Group defines a journey map as "a visualization of the process that a person goes through in order to accomplish a goal," built from an actor, a scenario, journey phases, actions, mindsets and emotions, and opportunities (NN/g Journey Mapping 101). For a planned journey, the phases are the three stages, and the map sits under the funnel so each drop-off lines up with what buyers were doing and thinking at that moment. NN/g also stresses that the actions on the map should be rooted in data, ideally with customer quotes.

The narrative layer ties the three together. Each major drop-off gets a short annotation: the size of the loss, where the buyers went and the cross-stage reason. Stakeholders who read only the annotations should come away with the main finding. The diagram should also say where the data comes from and how confident the team is, since stage volumes drawn from recall surveys are estimates.

Journey map drop-off rates are only useful if they can be compared over time. The diagram therefore keeps the same stages, definitions and layout from wave to wave, and the first version becomes the template for every update.

Step-by-Step Guide

Step 1: Confirm the stages and the data behind each

List the stages using the agreed definitions and, for each, the source of the numbers: survey, analytics, CRM or a combination. Note where numbers are estimates. Decide whether the funnel shows your brand's share of all category buyers or the flow of your own prospects, and keep that choice throughout. Mixing the two produces a misleading picture.

Step 2: Calculate stage volumes and flows

For each stage, calculate how many buyers had your brand in consideration. Between stages, calculate how many kept it, how many dropped it and where they went, and how many added it late. Keep absolute numbers alongside percentages. Flag any flow resting on a small base.

Step 3: Build the headline funnel

Draw one bar per stage with widths proportional to the numbers. Label each with the count and the share kept from the previous stage. Highlight the largest drop in a single accent color. Keep it simple enough for an executive to read without explanation.

Step 4: Build the flow diagram

Use a Sankey-style diagram to show flows between stages, including losses to named competitors, late additions and returns to latent (Sankey diagram). Limit the number of competitors shown by name and group the rest. Order flows consistently so the same competitor sits in the same place in every version.

Step 5: Add the journey map

Under the funnel, add a journey map with the three stages as phases and rows for buyer actions, questions, touchpoints and mood, following the structure in NN/g's journey mapping guidance. Use buyer quotes for the questions and mood rows. Align each major drop-off with the row entries that explain it.

Step 6: Write the annotations

For each major drop-off, write one or two sentences: how many buyers were lost, to whom and why, with the evidence source. Add a line on data confidence. Read the diagram with only the annotations visible and check that the main finding comes through.

Step 7: Test with a stakeholder and set the template

Show the draft to someone who was not involved and ask them to describe the main finding. Fix anything they misread. Save the final version as a template with fixed stages, colors and layout, so future waves update the numbers without redesign.

Best Practices

• Show absolute numbers with percentages. A percentage alone can hide that a small rate at a large stage loses more buyers than a large rate at a small one.
• Show where lost buyers went. Losses by destination tell a competitive story that an anonymous drop-off cannot.
• Show non-linear flows. Late additions and returns to latent are part of a planned journey, and leaving them out makes the funnel look cleaner and less true (Purchase funnel).
• Keep one accent color for the key finding. When everything is highlighted, nothing is.
• Label data sources and confidence. Recall-based volumes are estimates, and saying so protects the diagram's credibility when numbers shift.
• Keep the layout stable across waves. Readers compare versions by position, so moving elements makes real changes harder to see.

Common Mistakes

• Drawing a generic sales funnel: A funnel built on pipeline stages or web events loses the latent stage and the buyer's view. Build on the journey stages.
• Using a funnel shape with fixed widths: Decorative funnel graphics with equal steps misstate the size of each loss. Make widths proportional.
• Hiding competitors: A drop-off without destinations invites internal explanations. Showing which rival won makes the discussion concrete.
• Overloading one slide: Putting funnel, flows, map and notes on one slide for executives loses them. Give executives the headline funnel and keep the detail for working sessions.
• Changing definitions between versions: If stage definitions or data sources change, note it prominently, or the comparison between versions will mislead.

References

• Examples: Worked examples and scenarios
• FAQ: Frequently asked questions
• Parent Method: Planned Journey Framework

Related Skills

• Planned Journey Framework Stages: Latent, Evaluation, Buying
• Brand Consideration Tracking Across Journey Stages
• Connecting Cross-Stage Journey Insights
• Research-Intensive Purchase Mapping for Planned Journeys
• Touchpoint Optimization for Each Journey Stage
• Planned Journey Framework for B2B Buying Committees

Sources

• Wikipedia: Sankey diagram
• Nielsen Norman Group: Journey Mapping 101
• Wikipedia: Purchase funnel
• SKIM: 6 steps to untangle consumer decision journeys

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