Importance & Need of Customer Journey Mapping (CJM) in enriching the Customer Experience (CX) for Digital Transformation (Opportunities)

Based on the research & analytics, for Digital Transformation & revamping of organization- The customer experience map with the help of smart tool of customer journey mapping(CJM) is utmost important. A customer journey map tells the story of the customer’s experience: from initial contact, through the process of engagement and into a long-term relationship. 

What is Customer Journey Mapping?

CJM- Customer Journey Mapping is a visualization of the end to end journey map that customer experience over time, it is also the way of capturing of: - 

• The outcomes of the interactions/touch-points at each stage of E2E life-cycle journey.   
• The customer's perspective and how it feels to be customer (putting ourselves into the shoes of customers). 

A journey map is catalyst and not a conclusion. Customer journey maps are a comprehensive view of customer touch-points with our services & product. A customer journey map begins with a customer persona (i.e. an imaginary-but-based-on-reality customer) and follows that persona from the point at which they understand what our services & products do all the way to their first steps as a customer — and onward as they use the services & products. 

When a customer Journey mapping is utilized: - 

1.  Identify bottlenecks and inefficiencies in the current business. 

2. Identify the customer experience & emotions(emoji) of new customer group. 

3.  Design new experience for new & future business opportunities. 

4.  Design the impact of significant business changes( Disruptions or Geological). 

5. Establish more seamless customer experience across functional silos. 

CJM (Customer Journey Mapping) Approach: - 

1.  Identify customers & Have deep understanding of customer, landscape, current & future digital disruptions and competitors.

2.Hold a journey mapping meeting with customers & involved third parties.

•   Identification of departments, regions and people responsible for the delivery of the customer experience at each touch point (e.g. customer service, technical support, HR, sales and marketing, etc.) 

             i.              Through internal workshops 

             ii.              Through internal interviews 

            iii.              Through customer (both current and past) & 3rd Party Customer input - interviews, focus groups and social media 

3.Develop the customer journey map that matters to customers 

• Linkages between touch-points 
• Emotions elicited and desired in the customer at each touch-point 

 Moments of truth: 

1. Emotion- The customer is emotionally engaged or vulnerable 

2. Importance- The customer feels that a lot is dependent on outcome. 

3.Involvement- The customer is personally invested in the outcome 

4. Value: the customer needs to feel special or appreciated at this point. 

5. Expectation: Customers expectations are at heightened. 

Pain Points: 

1.    Requires more efforts to us e by customers then the expected efforts. 

2.    Creates uncertainty, worry and stress. 

3.    Make them feel let down- undermines their status/ feeling of being valued. 

4.     Reveals serious gap between expectations and reality.  

• Importance ratings for each touch-point. This can include looking at the internal perception of importance compared to customer measures 

4.               Create action plan for improvement areas (Tailoring the services for customer & business requirements) 

•  Process modelling with business process diagram 
• System Design with UML 
• User experience (UX) design with wire-frames 
• EA design 

5.  CJM Plan Realization 

Problems and challenges for starting the customer journey Mapping: 

Customer Journey Mapping is not without its problems. Knowledge and perceptions, both internal and external, are required to develop the Customer Journey Map, particularly in more complex B2B markets. Challenges which can be experienced when embarking on the process can include: 

• Getting buy-in from senior management 
• Getting co-operation from staff who are responsible for the various elements of the customer journey 
• Availability of resources to undertake the process ( Interviewing, group discussions and brainstorming)

A Customer Journey Map (CJM) is not:- 

1.  Business process mapping- Journey maps capture the outcomes (good or bad) that are experienced by customers as a consequences of business processes. 
2. One off exercise with end date 
3. Just Another project- CJM is not about telling you what you already know. It is about creating the right end to end framework & backdrop to work from. 
4. Marketing Initiatives! It will fail if it is not truly cross functional 
5. An end in itself- it is not about the map whereas what will we do with it? The map will trigger new questions and highlight opportunities for the business. 

Think about customer journey maps as stories. The main characters— the protagonists — are our customers. And really, they’re the heroes & their experience & emotions are important to capture. Also realize that while we may be talking about the “customer” as a singular persona, personas are necessarily an amalgamation of a certain type of customer and if we are into customer journey mapping, we are likely going to have different maps for different personas (different customers) — e.g. the map for a heavy, technical user might be different from a casual enthusiast.