Where is the Human?

Customer Journey Mapping Mistakes to Avoid?

Hi there, I write about a new way of thinking about customer experience, employee experience, brand and product experience.??

Today, let's talk about something that often gets lost in the shuffle of business strategies and customer experience initiatives – the human element. Yes, we're diving into the world of journey mapping, where understanding emotions can make all the difference between a map that guides and one that truly transforms experiences.?

During my early sessions with clients, we often review their journey maps and service blueprints. While these documents are rich in detailing processes and touchpoints, there's often a glaring gap – the absence of human emotions. I often say… "A journey map without emotion is just a process map,". It's a trap that many teams, or even experts fall into. It may start with the best intentions, but it quickly becomes about assuming an ideal step-by step process. Without tapping into the emotions that drive real human behaviors, journey maps risk becoming mere recipes of an idealized customer.?

The question is, how do we infuse human-centricity into journey mapping??

Here are a few things I’ve learned from experience that I would like to share with you:?

Customer Stories: Think of journey mapping like an exercise where you are watching a movie and analyzing scene by scene. In each scene there are different characters playing various roles— not everyone fits the same mold. Treat your customer as a key player in a story, exploring their various roles and how they’re all linked together. Sometimes they’re the buyer calling the shots, other times they’re the ones making things happen, and often they’re just using the product or service. Understanding their wider network and influences is like mapping out an ecosystem—it helps you see what affects their feelings and what might block them along the way. Taking this approach gives you a deeper, more realistic view of how your customers experience your brand.?

Customer-centric: Is your journey map focused on the customer or the product? It’s easy to fall into the trap of assuming that customers are solely interested in your product or service, when in reality, using your product might just be a small part of their larger goal. Take, for example, someone like me who uses an accounting tool for bookkeeping—I’m not an accountant, and this tool isn’t something I use constantly. When I do use it, my main aim is efficiency: pull reports, analyze data, and make decisions quickly. If I need support, assuming that my entire journey revolves around the product and that I’m always stationed at a desk could lead to missed opportunities. What matters most to me is getting things done efficiently so I can do things such as attend a meeting with a client or take my kids to soccer practice. If you were on the accounting software end, understanding that I’m often on the move would lead to providing options like a call-back service or a follow-me feature via text or chat, which aligns better with my needs and priorities.?

Add real Voice of the Customer: Get your customers involved in the mapping process—it adds real-world experiences and perspectives that make your map more authentic and relevant. But, let’s be real, sometimes getting direct customer input can be tricky, especially in B2B scenarios. Maybe you don’t have easy access to a wide range of customers, or you’re worried about biased feedback from a handful of favorites, or they’re just not available when you need them.?

In these situations, you can tap into internal resources like meeting notes with customers, email exchanges from support tickets, or insights gathered from voice-of-the-customer surveys. For instance, during my time at Technology company that sold hardware and SaaS, I dug deep into the top support cases causing headaches for both customers and the company. These were the cases that either dragged on for too long or left customers seriously unhappy, leading to churn. By pinpointing the top six issues, we formed teams to tackle each one head-on, diving into them to understand what was going wrong and how to fix it. Remember to include any third-party partners involved such as resellers or outsourced call-centers who also play a role in the customer’s journey.?

Keep the journey alive: Imagine if you created a map back in 2019 and stuck with it—you’d likely miss out on crucial updates that reflect how people live, work, and shop in today’s hybrid world. Sadly, this is what I often see companies doing – drawing a map and calling it a day, missing out on the chance to stay relevant and responsive to changing customer needs and market dynamics.?

Think of journey maps like living, breathing documents. It’s not enough to create one and let it gather digital dust in a shared folder. To truly harness the power of a journey map in improving customer experience, you have got to share it, talk about it, and keep refining it based on ongoing feedback and market changes.?

To keep your journey maps relevant, include feedback from front-facing and behind-the scenes teams, embed their use into your strategic planning and team workflows. Regular audits, persona refreshes, and updating your sources of truth are essential. Consider hosting mapping events throughout your company to realign everyone with the current customer landscape, market trends, and business strategies. This ensures your journey maps stay dynamic and impactful.?

In essence, customer journey maps are great service design tools, but they often miss the human side of things. Companies tend to focus too much on processes and make everything about the product, which limits their usefulness.???

Next time you are planning a customer journey mapping exercise, prepare to:?

• Gather various real customer stories based on various versions of customers.??
• Ensure you take the time to understand the thoughts, emotions and the behaviours – the gems are found in the tiny details that are usually overseen.?

• Use internal data that is already available and that provides evidence to your customer stories– use it!?
• Iterate on the customer journey map and make it a part of how your teams work… then watch the magic between your teams happen!??

Would you like to learn how to hire me to coach your journey mapping workshops???

Contact me here: https://www.4xperience.com/home 4X Homepage (4xperience.com)??