While writing my service offering page, I have been reading up on customer journey mapping and how integral a part it is to the whole Flow building process. You can read more about my service offering here
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Here I explain more about the customer journey and what it means to me.
A customer journey is a path a customer follows when they interact with a service provider. It is written by the service owner or provider and identifies key touch points between the service offering and the customer. It should encompass the touch points, service challenges and contingencies for those challenges and where value can be added to improve the service at the points the customer interacts with the service. This is very important when thinking about building Flows, not to jump to the solution straight away and take a step back and map this journey first.
Moments of truth is a term that was first coined by Proctor & Gamble in 2005 and it is the phrase which is used to explain the critical points where the customer can have a wow moment within the service provision. It is important to capitalise on these moments, to ensure the customer is retained and this interaction can lead to a loyal customer for your brand.
Customer touch points are interactions between the customer and the service provision. These can be emails, phone calls, face to face interactions to name but a few and of course Flows !. All these touch points build up to make the overall picture of the service offering and so it is key to make sure they are all moments of truth. Everyone within the service offering should be in the mindset of knowing that any interaction is a touch point and that a negative experience in one touch point will have a knock-on effect to the rest of the service and the people who provide that service.
Service challenges are elements of the service provision where an issue can arise. They need to be identified as part of the customer journey mapping process and there needs to be contingency measures in place for each one. This will allow for a smoother transition to a path when a service is interrupted or fails for some reason. The well versed the service providers are in these contingencies the smoother the transition. It is important that all key service providers within the service offering understand these contingencies.
We need to think of all of these issues when building Flows for the customer.
Customer journey mapping is the process whereby a service provider should step into the shoes of a customer and empathise with them on how they progress through their service offering. The mapping will help the business understand customer pain points by identifying all the customer touch points, interactions between the customer and the service. The end goal will be to help improve the customer experience as well as helping to define what new and existing customers want in order to complete a requisition of said service. The benefits of mapping this journey are multi-faceted. It is about understanding the journey the customer takes, where these touch points are, how they can be improved and how contingencies can be employed to make sure the customers have a seamless experience.
There are multiple ways to map out the customer journey but it’s important to not only look at the mapping process but also the emotional roller-coaster the customer may go on. Looking at it this way will help you to identify key touch points which can cause friction and conflict and get these resolved to a happier place.
Mapping the customer journey will allow you to understand the places where value can be added, and it may show you areas for improvement where contingencies can be put in place if an issue occurs inside the process.
I see a customer journey map having four iterations:
Mapping the as-is customer journey
Identifying all customer touch points in the customer journey
Going back over the map and checking for areas where value can be added
Going back over the map again and checking for areas where contingencies need to be put in place to ensure the customer’s journey is smooth and uninterrupted.
The customer journey map needs to be completed with key stakeholders, the service owner and the customers at a minimum. This will help when it comes to walking in the customers shoes and you will get information first hand rather than guessing touch points. It may also give you hidden insight into how the customers think and how they understand the process that is being mapped.
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