How can you get the most out of customer journey mapping?

I'm sorry, but I'll disagree with this one. I recognize you need a "hypothesis" to test against, but mapping has nothing to do with your goals. This is one of the problems that companies have and why their mapping exercises don't work. "Your goals," objectives, assumptions - introduce a bias into the process. You must start with the customer data to determine what the journey needs to accomplish. This is, and should always be, about your customers' goals. This data will drive your next steps.

The key to Customer Journey Mapping is to DO SOMETHING WITH IT!!! Journey mapping isn't rocket science. I've seen countless examples where a journey map started with post-its, then turned into a PDF, next a poster, and finally a dart board. If you invest the time to build one, ensure the team commissioning the work is ready to take action. The most helpful journey mapping sessions I've seen are those where an insight, hypothesis or whichever marketing jargon is found, but then action is taken to test, learn, and build. Don't spend hours polishing a presentation; get out into the real world and execute, albeit judiciously and iteratively.

Before mapping a journey, there are 3 goals to consider: 1. Understand current state of the journey. 2. Understand the ideal future state of the journey. 3. Understand the realistic state moving towards ideal future state of the journey. If you don't distinguish which one you're mapping for first, you will end up mixing information between #1, #2, #3. So do #1 followed by #2, then 3.

The whole idea of mapping the customer journey is understanding the consumer's interaction with the product. Their likes, dislikes, and needs. Understanding your client from the get-go. From the first interaction to being loyal advocates. But before we even start the journey, we must understand the basics and have clarity. 1. The Goal - What's your objective? What are you planning to achieve? 2. Periodic reviews - Customer preferences change over time. Review the objectives to stay relevant. 3. Collaborate - Insights from customer-facing teams matter. Our internal teams can provide invaluable points. Remember, a happy and satisfied customer is at the heart of any successful business. We do what we do to make our customers happy.

Setting your scope and objectives acts as your North Star. It illuminates the path, ensuring that you remain aligned with the broader business objectives, resulting in a map that's actionable and insightful. Why it's the Cornerstone? Just as a sailor wouldn’t venture out to sea without a compass, businesses shouldn't dive into customer journey mapping without a clear direction. This beginning step sets the tone, intent, and success metrics for your entire journey map.

Take a walk in your customers’ shoes. - Where do they go when they identify a product-related problem? - How do potential customers discover your brand? - Which website pages do potential customers visit before making a purchase decision? - What do new customers do after they make a purchase? - What are the goals of my customers; do we understand their pain points before, during, and after each stage of the buying process?

The whole idea of Customer journey mapping is to know about your customers. It should not just be internal assumptions but real-time data. The idea is to know as much as possible about your customer. Multiple sources can help you map this journey - 1. Customer Interviews - Talk to your customers. Have monthly or quarterly reviews with them. 2. Survey - Use surveys to know more about the exp. 3. Observation - See how your clients currently use your services. 4. Social Media - Feedback and reviews on the social media platforms. 5. Website Analytics - This can tell you much about what your potential clients seek. Keywords, landing pages, and time they spend on those pages. Remember, Customer Journey Mapping is an ever evolving process.

Think of customer research like preparing for a marathon. You wouldn't just randomly start running; you'd train, understand the terrain, and learn about potential hurdles. In the same way, mapping a customer's journey without understanding their psyche and behavior is setting up unforeseen challenges. While technology and analytics give us an unprecedented ability to understand numbers, the human touch in understanding emotions and motivations remains irreplaceable. Marrying the two is where the magic happens in crafting a seamless customer journey.

You can either: 1. Map the journey then conduct research on which parts of the journey that needs validation or discovery. 2. Conduct the research and use journey mapping as a tool to synthesize the current state of the journey.

Absolutely! And once co-ordinated properly getting them involved in the mapping process so they can become advocates for your product/ service too!

Have you considered what is inside the journey. Consumers make decisions in the moment. Moments are fragments of times that determine our actions. A group of moments fit into an experience. A group of expereinces fit into a journey. A group of journeys is a saga. I believe organizations need to visualize these components in addition to the traditional mapping elements.

Crafting a clear customer journey visualization isn’t about making a pretty picture. It’s about capturing the heart and soul of your customer's experience. With this, you are not just understanding their path; you are walking it with them. Key Considerations to visualize and communicate your map: 1) Tell a Story 2) Add Interactive Elements 3) Highlight the Critical 4) Consistency is Key

Customer Journey mapping is more than just collecting data. This is your storybook with chapters showing customers' brand experience, with highs and some lows. This is a roadmap to make a difference and improve the user's experience.

Who iterates the journey matter equally. Journey mapping is a cross-functional activity with multiple owners between teams from: - Product - GTM (Sales, marketing, growth) - Customer success / support - Strategy

When iterating, how do you ensure there is an alignment between the customer and your business. Alignment is not only about tracking if the customer walks the same path as your mapped journey, it's also about ensuring the values they have are aligned with the values the business is offering. Again, this brings the responsibilty for iteration across the entire organziation. For example, how might technology and IT be engaged with value alignment and mapping iterations? How about human resources? Iteration is a cultural activity that can inspire innovation and improvements to your customers' journeys.

Think of your customer journey map as living software. It needs updates, patches, and sometimes, a complete overhaul. The goal? Ensure it always provides a current, clear, and actionable picture of your customer's path. Consider tech giants like Apple. Their customer journey has massively evolved from the iPod days to the multifaceted ecosystem we see today. It's a perfect example of how validation and iteration, with market shifts and product launches, can reshape a customer's journey with a brand.

Change is the only constant. Every business is impacted differently by changes in macroeconomic and technological shifts. And at the same time, responds differently. Similarly, the customer journey is ever-evolving and changing as per the landscape. As our business shifts, so should the roadmap. To keep things real and in perspective, it's essential to be in constant touch about the changes in our client's experiences. Customers, products, services, and markets dance to an ever-changing tune. Thus, your map must dance along. Regular updates are vital. As the business adjusts to these shifts, so should the map.

Customer journey map is a living thing. One can see the dynamics by just looking how success factors tend to become hygienic ones. Reconsider and challenge the map whenever new input is detected (from regulations to technological, change in generations and models etc) Always have in mind both rational and emotional dimensions of the interactions associated to a TP. Search and use the TPs where your organisation has deep knowledge and understanding of the customer and environment.

Here are some actions you can take by mapping the journey. - Which team will be responsible for executing which steps within the journey? - What is the current experience of each step? - How easy/hard is it to execute each step? - How many struggle to complete each step? - What problems are being faced in each step? - How complete is this step? - What is the transition point between different journeys? - Which stakeholders should be involved in different steps of the journey?

Acting on your journey map is like tuning an instrument. Each tweak brings you closer to harmony in customer experience. Here are tangible actions you can take: 1) Prioritize Pain Points: 2) Identify the major obstacles or challenges your customers face. 3) Eliminate any redundant or unnecessary steps in the customer journey. 4) Use data from the journey map to better understand customer preferences. 5) Define KPIs & Metrics

When you do not drive action, you are not adding value. Nobody cares about how beautiful your maps are when you are not contributing to increased impact. Therefore it is better to focus the map on the areas you want or need to improve than to try to be (overly) complete and map the whole journey from cradle to grave. As soon you have mapped it, it starts getting outdated. So map in detail what you will work on and where you will make changes. On all the other parts, ensure it is mapped well enough to create a common understanding, though focus 90% of your energy on the area where you will drive a positive for your customers at that moment.

Use your map to inspire change in your organization. Mapping is not a marketing or sales tool. Mapping is an entire organizations tool to drive true customer centricity in all areas of the business that are required to deliver the journey to your customers.

Customer Journey Map is a NorthStar for anyone who keeps their customers at the core of their business. This is a path to results, to provide a better experience to our customers. Implementing actions for better results. It is sacred. The map helps us uncover, pain, gaps, and opportunities which helps us make our product better to help serve our clients and partners efficiently. And this doesn't stop here. The impact of the actions needs to be calibrated, and reviewed. Adapt as needed. The map is our compass to smoother waters, to better experiences and better results.

Understand that the customer journey map is not the end result, nor the first step in customer success. There are activities before, including understanding specific goals and needs that start before the customer reaches your company, and there are experiences that occur after their journey with you. Shameless self promotion - read my book "Customer Transformation" on Amazon and my website, that tackles Journeys as the 3rd stage of the framework.

Things to consider in a customer journey map: Customer personas: Who are your customers? What are their needs, goals, and pain points? Customer journey stages: What are the different stages of the customer journey? For example, awareness, consideration, purchase, and post-purchase. Customer touchpoints: What are the different ways that customers interact with your business? This includes your website, social media, customer support, and more. Customer emotions: How do customers feel at different stages of the journey? Are they happy, frustrated, confused? Opportunities for improvement: Where can you improve the customer experience? This could be by making changes to your products or services, your marketing, or your customer support.

Chris is perfectly right: customer journey map is a tool. Powerful and complex. But as with all tools, it needs the right hands to create wonders. Keep the tool updated as frequent as necessary-it’ more like a knife that needs sharpening from time to time in order for the cook to perform at its best!

Remember, customer journey mapping isn't a solo activity. The role of the customer experience (CX) consultant is not to create, but to facilitate the creation of the customer journey map. The customer is the expert, not the consultant, not the employee. Their voices should drive the whole process through a cross-functional team of employees from the edge of the organization.

Customer Journey map is more than a tool. It is a guide to better relationships. 1. Empathy should guide our Roadmap. 2. Learn everything about your partners. 3. Involve employees who interact with customers. 4. Respect customer privacy. 5. Compare your journey to competitors'. It's your guide to building lasting relationships and customer-focused wins.