Customer Journey Maps : Why, What & How for CXOs

As we welcome the new year 2025, it is very clear that with new onslaught of AI, CXOs are going to face increasingly dynamic markets and a heightened demand for superior customer experiences.

The idea behind the topic of today's article is to provide you with a template which can act as a 'Living Document' throughout the year to help you build right capabilities, improve operational efficiencies and effectiveness of whatever function you own in your organization.

What are Customer Journey Maps (CJM) :

Whether your "customer" is external (clients and consumers) or internal (employees, partners, or stakeholders), understanding their journey is essential to enhancing your function's effectiveness.

Customer Journey Map is nothing but a visual representation of touch points your customer has with your function or your organization as a whole.

Benefits of Customer Journey Maps (CJM) :

Customer Journey Maps (CJMs) help you to look at yourself from outside. They help you understand what your customers think and feel about your organization.

Creating and utilizing Customer Journey Maps (CJMs) offers a structured approach to aligning organizational efforts with customer expectations.

By mapping customer experiences, CXOs can:

1. Build Business Capabilities aligned with customer needs.
2. Monitor & Improve Operational Efficiencies, ensuring smooth service delivery.
3. Assess & Improve Operational Effectiveness, addressing gaps in customer interactions.

How to Create and Use Customer Journey Maps (CJM) :

Step 1: Define the Goals

Before starting your CJM, establish clear goals. Determine whether you're addressing a broad challenge, such as enhancing company-wide customer interaction with your brand, or focusing on a specific issue, like improving customer response from your customer support function.

A clear objective ensures your efforts are directed and measurable.

Step 2: Form the team and Collect Information

Involve right people from relevant functions/sub functions. Collect relevant basic information from them and try to get a holistic view w.r.t to your defined goal in the step 1.

Understand why and how customers interact with your organization or function. Question whether you are missing something.

Leverage diverse data sources, such as:

• Customer Feedback: Surveys, focus groups, and forums.
• Behavioral Data: Website analytics and user interactions.
• Anecdotal Insights: Engage employees in front line roles for firsthand accounts of customer touch points.
• Direct Customer Input: Speak to your customers to understand their experiences and expectations.

By compiling this data, you gain a holistic view of the customer’s motivations and frustrations.

Step 3: Identify All Possible Touch points

Touch points are the channels customers use to interact with your organization—both those you control (website, help desk) and those outside your direct control (word-of-mouth, social media reviews).

Questions to consider:

• Where do customers seek information?
• How do they contact us?
• Is there anyone else involved in the middle?

Collecting all possible touch points is very critical in outlining the Customer Journey Map.

Step 4: Outline Key Stages

Map out the sequential steps of a customer’s journey, from the initial interaction to post-service support. Depending on your business, these stages could include:

1. Awareness
2. Consideration
3. Purchase
4. Delivery
5. After-Sales Support

Each stage should highlight the customer's goals, emotions, questions, and perceptions. For example, during the purchase stage, a customer might seek clarity on pricing, feel excitement, and question the delivery timeline.

Step 5: Create the Map

Visual representations help bring customer journeys to life. Consider formats like:

• Swim Lane Diagrams: Track touch points, goals, emotions, and team responsibilities across stages.
• Timelines or Infographics: Simplify complex journeys into an easily digestible format.
• Interactive Digital Maps: Use tools like Smaply? or UXPressia? for collaborative mapping.

Include actionable data such as operational metrics, customer emotions, and feedback for each stage.

Step 6: Analyze, Find Insights and Act

Critically analyze the Customer Journey Map. Try to read between the lines. Look for insights.

Questions to explore:

• Which Capabilities are critical for us? Which ones should be we double down on? Which one should we stop doing?
• Are touch points intuitive and effective?
• Where are gaps or inefficiencies occurring?

For example, if Google Ads are giving you all the leads, double down on them. If cold calling is not giving results, stop doing that.

Step 7: Treat CJM as a Living Document

Customer journeys evolve. Regularly update your CJM to reflect changes in:

• Customer behavior
• Technology adoption
• Market dynamics

Treat Customer Journey Map (CJM) as a dynamic tool for continuous improvement and innovation.

Using Customer Journey Maps in Real Business Contexts

1. Enhancing Customer Retention Identify pain points causing customer churn and implement targeted solutions, such as simplifying returns or offering proactive communication for delays.
2. Improving Internal Processes Internal customers, like employees, also follow a journey. Map their experiences during onboarding or cross-departmental collaboration to optimize workflows.
3. Strategic Decision-Making Use insights from CJMs to prioritize investments. For example, if digital touch points like chatbots reduce customer effort, allocate resources to enhance their functionality.
4. Measuring Performance Track KPIs aligned with CJM stages, such as Net Promoter Score (NPS) for satisfaction or First Response Time for support.
5. Designing Future-State Journeys Leverage CJMs to anticipate customer needs and design innovative services. For instance, offering personalized product recommendations based on browsing behavior.

A Fresh Start for 2025

As CXOs, leading with empathy and customer-centricity sets your organization apart. Starting the year with a robust Customer Journey Map ensures alignment with customer expectations and business goals.

Seeing your business through your customers’ eyes is the first step to building their loyalty and trust.

Make CJM a cornerstone of your strategy in 2025, and reap the benefits of stronger relationships and operational excellence.

About Chanakya Joshi

An IIM Indore Alumnus, Chanakya has seen major business pain areas over the last two decades with blue chips in IT, Automotive and Consulting.

He is now on a mission to GIVE BACK to society using entrepreneurship.

With his startup GetAConnect Global by Content Funnels Technologies Pvt. Ltd., they are scaling up businesses with End to End Content Funnels combining latest Learning and Marketing Technologies.

The case in point is use of 'Quiz for Business Marketing'.

Using GetAConnect platform, businesses can launch their own branded quizzes to not only attract customers but also deliver personalized content at scale and make a lasting First Impression on their potential customers.