Buyer Journey

From silent lurker to bespoke client — discovery through referral, evaluation through specificity, conversion through constraint pain.

Discovery Channels (Current)

Channel Strength Notes
Gemma Went's network HIGH Trusted source, pre-qualified audience
Maria-Ines's content via Envisioned MEDIUM Growing visibility, philosophy-led positioning
Word of mouth EARLY Needs more delivered projects to compound
Aureum website + Auria chatbot BUILDING Warm intake experience in development

Discovery Channels (Planned)

  • Substack "AI By Design" — practitioner intelligence, free + paid tiers
  • LinkedIn "Intelligence by Design" — weekly newsletter for enterprise audience
  • Instagram — Auria's brand world, visual storytelling, DM funnels

Evaluation Phase

Questions They Ask

  • "Is this just another AI agency?"
  • "Can AI learn MY methodology?"
  • "Is five figures worth it?"
  • "How much of my time will this take?"
  • "Will this reduce my involvement or create a new thing to manage?"
  • "Do they understand my kind of business?"

What They Compare Aureum To

Alternative Their Experience
DIY with ChatGPT Free but generic — "It gives generic answers"
Hiring a VA Human but needs constant explaining
Other AI agencies Cheaper but build tools, not intelligence
Doing nothing Safe but still bottlenecked
Gemma Bonham-Carter's AI All-Stars $1,999 pre-built skills but generic, not trained on THEIR methodology

Evaluation Tipping Point

"No amount of prompting will teach a generic AI my proprietary methodology. The extraction IS the work."

This is the moment they stop comparing and start inquiring. The realization that their IP requires a bespoke process, not a template.

Conversion Triggers

  1. Delivery constraint hits breaking point — they physically cannot take on more clients or create more content without sacrificing quality
  2. They try DIY and fail — ChatGPT gave them generic output, they realize the gap
  3. They see it work for a peer — social proof from someone in their world
  4. The "this is different" moment — interacting with Auria or having a discovery call where they feel genuinely understood

Stall Points

Stall Point What Happens Resolution
Between discovery and inquiry Form feels like commitment Auria's warm guidance lowers the barrier
Between inquiry and call Second-guessing, "is this worth my time?" Fast personal response from Gemma or Maria-Ines
Between call and yes Price shock at five figures Bespoke proposal naming what their intelligence layer would DO specifically
"I'll do it next quarter" loop Procrastination disguised as timing "The delivery constraint doesn't pause" — urgency reframe

Post-Purchase Expansion

The journey doesn't end at Module 1. The natural expansion path:

  • Module 1 → Module 2 → Module 3 — from extraction to infrastructure to elimination of dependency
  • Additional agents — new intelligence domains as the business evolves
  • Team access — expanding AI infrastructure to team members
  • Client-facing AI products — turning internal tools into revenue-generating assets

Sources

  • customer-journey-intelligence.md — full buyer journey mapping, discovery channels, evaluation criteria, conversion triggers, stall points, expansion paths