Expert Opinion: Why Customer Journey Mapping is vital for improving CX
Customer Journey Mapping, identifying every customer touchpoint and examining how they feel at each point in the process is a key tool in improving the experience customers have of your business.
CX specialists Insight6 share six reasons why customer journey mapping is vital for improving the experience of your customers.
A customer journey map creates a clear plan of action
Customer Journey Mapping is about identifying clear actions that will transform the experience your customers have with you. This is not about creating pretty posters showing everyone that you have a customer journey map for your office wall; this is about action! In every customer journey mapping workshop we have facilitated, we have witnessed immediate and clear action that has a profound impact on staff motivation, a greater focus on the customer and their needs and an increase in sales.
Experience what it is like to look through the eyes of your customers
The first place we start in a customer journey mapping workshop is to identify the customer touchpoints starting from the moment a customer becomes aware that your business exists, perhaps searching for a coffee shop or solicitor on Google, to the moment that the customer receives an invoice, or exits your business.
Once the team are clear on the touchpoints, the brilliance of customer journey mapping starts. Each member of the team can put themselves in the customer’s shoes and describe the experience at each of the touchpoints and how they might feel at each stage of the journey. Compare this experience to what each team member is actually doing at each touchpoint, and the insights start to overflow. The penny drops when team members see the gap between what they are doing and what the customer is experiencing.
Create a shared understanding and vision of customer experience across the business
Most of us know the importance of involving the team in any obvious changes in an organisation. When your entire team embraces and shares an attitude and belief system, incredible things start to happen. Nothing illustrates this point better than the classic story of President John F. Kennedy’s visit to the NASA space centre in 1962, where Kennedy noticed a janitor carrying a broom. He interrupted his tour, walked over to the man and said, “Hi, I’m Jack Kennedy. What are you doing?”
“Well, Mr. President,” the janitor responded, “I’m helping put a man on the moon.”
Everyone has a role to play in customer experience, from the accounts clerk who sends out the invoices, to the cleaner who hoovers the floor. Every single detail has an impact on how the customer feels about your business and this is what creates a great customer experience.
Focus on the customer and how their differences impact on their needs
It is often the case that different customers have different needs. Recognising that you may have different customer personas using your product or service is vital in the customer journey mapping session. A classic mistake in any business is to assume that a new customer has the same expectations as a regular customer. They don’t!
You are solving problems by unlocking the causes
By identifying how the customer feels at each step of the customer journey, instead of from a business or personal perspective enables you to focus on the problem without getting defensive. This simple switch in perspective will allow you to uncover and understand what is causing the problem and finding a solution that will improve how the customer feels.
Independent facilitation keeps you challenged and inside the shoes of the customers
Having an independent facilitator to coordinate and direct the team in a customer journey mapping workshop is vital for staying focused, not slipping back into the old habit of looking at problems from your perspective and keeping the energy in the room to explore and discover how your customers feel.
Read the full article on the Insight6 website.
