What Is Customer Journey Mapping?
There isn’t a single standard form to customer journey mapping, but no matter it’s form, customer journey mapping describes the interaction between a customer and your business at every stage. This ranges from how to find the business online and its physical location, what happens when a customer visits, and how customers talk about your business later.
Generally customer journey maps are based on a timeline. Usually that timeline is separated into stages such as Awareness, Research, Purchase, and etc. The titles vary based on the industry and mapping technique. Furthermore, each of those stages is further broken down into greater detail to record activity, describe motivation, outlining rewards, identifying barriers, and other aspects of each stage.
Where you will need to focus your attention depends on your business and your industry. However, there is always something to learn by mapping out your customer’s journey and revisiting that journey to determine where improvements can be made.
How do we get started?
Start With a Goal
Goal: Improve Existing Customer Experience
All customer experiences can be improved because the perfect customer experience doesn’t exist. In fact, the best customer experiences can be copied and then improved upon by competitors. Journey mapping will highlight the points that are the most critical to the success that comes with delivering superior customer experiences.
When are your customers feeling the most confident? When are they the most open to learn? At what point does your customer become an evangelist for your brand? A journey mapping exercise can bring each of these points into focus and more. Armed with this knowledge you can innovate to improve the customer experience.
Goal: Create a New Customer Experience
“Does it have to be this way?” or “Must it work like this?” is a question that we ask our clients. Often companies within an industry assume that because others do things a certain way that they must follow suit. The usual way isn’t the best way, and that’s why we see industry disruption today. Strengths can also be weaknesses, and customer journey mapping can be a great tool to use in the structuring of a new business model. Journey mapping forces you to think about emotional needs first and then allows you to build around emotions and motivation.
You can’t create the next Airbnb without asking a question like, “How can we create a hotel alternative that inexpensive yet comfortable?” Or something like, “How can we increase room bookings without building or buying new land?” There are multiple solutions, but the path you take and the solution you reach can be enhanced through journey mapping. Customer journey mapping will reveal obstacles and hurdles that don’t immediately come to mind.
Goal: Structure Around Customer Needs
Large organizations will find different departments are responsible for different stages of the customer journey. Marketing communicates the brand message and fills the sales funnel. IT ensures the website is available and functioning. Sales communicates with potential customers. Operations fulfills orders. Of course Customer Service services the customers. This can cause conflict and disharmony as each department likely has varying goals.
Take the time to examine the full customer journey from start to finish. Explore how every physical and intangible touchpoint can influence the customer and affect their journey. Document the friction between competing objectives and look at differences in KPI’s. Documenting the journey creates insight into positivity that pushes the customer forward and reveal where alternative KPI’s might improve alignment and generate harmony between departments.
Customer Journey Mapping is a Journey in Itself
No matter which of the various techniques or methods available you choose to you, mapping your customer’s journey will provide you with a deeper understanding of your business and the relationship you have with your customers at every touchpoint. You will also be able to see things better from the perspective of the customer, which is invaluable to any business.
Let’s Talk About Your Brand
shane@3catslabs.com | Call +65-3159-4231
Share
