Journey mapping is a company diagram that illustrates what customers truly want when it comes to service delivery and product involvement based on actual customer experiences. The more touch points customers receive, the more detailed the map. The purpose of customer journey mapping is to understand service delivery from start to finish so that companies can improve their processes for exceptional customer service.
Journey mapping provides companies with the opportunity to gather valuable information to form a foundation for strategic customer experience. Taking the time to completely understand the path of the customer, including staff and role correspondence, as well as business challenges they face along the way, journey mapping showcases a complete image of the customer experience.
It is just as important to develop journey mapping from the customer’s perspective as it is from an internal organizational structure. The internal viewpoint focuses on consumption models, qualitative reviews, analytics, and services. The model fits with company goals of increased revenues, lowered costs, and reduced risk. The result is a transformed plan of action with concise outcomes, optimized services, and customer satisfaction.
It is critical to understanding customer experiences and interactions, and with journey mapping, the layers are developed from the customer’s perspective to the organization structures and context. Here are six steps you can use to start the journey mapping process:
#1: Framework / Stakeholder Map
Identify all stakeholders present in an organizational chart and then define each customer interaction around each stakeholder. The stakeholder and customer relationship map displays the background of what influences the quality of work and customer satisfaction or dissatisfaction with services.
#2: Consumer Map
Gather information from learned delivered outcomes, review existing customer insights and interview customers in the field or by phone. The face-to-face interaction demonstrates your company cares and wants to know what each customer is thinking. Listening to customer experiences enhances services and provides solutions on how to organize company culture to support customers and keep them coming back
#3: Define and Analyze Scope
Identify initial hypotheses from in-depth conversations with critical stakeholders about the wide range of customer interactions. Analyze the design or redesign a customer listening strategy for improved outcome.
#4: Identify Strategic Goals/ Objectives
Pinpoint organizational goals and objectives in a realistic, measurable, and time-limited manner. Identify triggers, customer touch points, current issues, and desired outcomes with a clear vision of specific processes for solutions. Identify both new and currently successful initiatives around a customer-centric culture.
#5: Draft a Blueprint
Build up an elevated outline of pertinent phases and interactions during the customer’s journey. Map supporters of service delivery and who in turn influences those supporters. Link the blueprint back to the stakeholder map to develop a complete organizational drawing of the full life cycle of the customer journey from the inside out and vice versa.
#6: Advanced Action and Innovation
Establish teams to brainstorm and create solutions to fix the issues and improve customer experiences. Use the data gathered through the journey mapping to establish metrics and track progress. Create a plan to educate and implement company compliance with new processes to fulfill objectives and grow financially.
There are many benefits to journey mapping. It provides a visual depiction of customer desires through an end-to-end customer experience of strong and weak points. Journey mapping is the best tool for directing where you want to be.