What is a Customer Journey Map and Why is It Important?

A customer journey map is a diagram (or several diagrams) that depict the stages customers go through when interacting with a company, from buying products ... Home Journeymapping CRM customerjourneymap TechAccelerator Whatiscustomerexperiencemanagement(CEMorCXM)? ViewMore Sharethisitemwithyournetwork: By EricaMixon, SeniorSiteEditor LaurenHorwitz, Cisco LaurenHorwitz, Cisco Acustomerjourneymapisadiagram(orseveraldiagrams)thatdepictthestagescustomersgothroughwheninteractingwithacompany,frombuyingproductsonlinetoaccessingcustomerserviceonthephonetoairinggrievancesonsocialmedia. Tocreateeffectivevisualmapsthatreflectcustomers'journeysthroughthesechannels,journeymapsmustberootedindata-drivenresearchandmustvisuallyrepresentthedifferentphasescustomersexperiencebasedonavarietyofdimensions,includingcustomersentiment,goalsandtouchpoints. Tobecomprehensive,companiesoftenneedtocreateseveralcustomerjourneymapsbasedona360-degreeviewofhowcustomersengagewiththecompany.Forexample,onejourneymapmaybeginwithacustomerusingTwittertocommentaboutacompany,productorbrand,thenusingthephonetoreachacustomerservicelineand,finally,usingthecompanywebsite.Anotherscenariomaybeginwithonlinebrowsing,proceedtoaphoneinquiryandsoon. Benefitsofcustomerjourneymapping Thereasonsforcreatingacustomerjourneymapincludeunderstandingthepathandchannelsyourcustomerstaketogetyourproduct.It'savaluabletoolthatcanbeusedtoforecastthepathoffuturecustomers,aswell. Thisarticleispartof Whatiscustomerexperiencemanagement(CEMorCXM)? Whichalsoincludes: 5tipsforcreatingcustomerjourneymapsfrombuyerpersonas 4customerdatacollectionbestpracticestofollow AstrongCXtechnologyspendingplancanbringbigreturns Download1 DownloadthisentireguideforFREEnow! Creatingacustomerjourneymapcanprovideinsightfulinformationforalllevelsinadepartment,fromasalesrepwhoneedstofigureoutthebestwaystointeractwithpotentialcustomerstomanagerslookingforinsightonwhichoutletscustomersusemost.Itcanalsohighlightgapsormisdirectionandcanidentifygapsinthecustomerexperience(CX),including: gapsbetweendevices,whenausermovesfromonedevicetoanother; gapsbetweendepartments,wheretheusermightgetfrustrated;and gapsbetweenchannels,wheretheexperienceofgoingfromsocialmediatothewebsitecouldbebetter. Perhapsthemainbenefitofacustomerjourneymapisthatitprovidesclearinformationonhowcustomersmovethroughthesalesfunnel.Maximizingtheefficiencyofthatpathmeansmoresalesataquickerpace.Inaddition,understandingthecustomerexperienceisvitalforsalesandmarketingtounderstandthecustomerexperience. Atemplateofacustomerjourneymap. Componentsofacustomerjourneymap Acustomerjourneymapismadeupofseveralcomponents,including: Customerstages.Oneofthefirststepsofcreatingacustomerjourneymapistoidentifystagesinthecustomerjourney.Thereareatleastfourstagesinacustomerjourney:inquiry,comparison,purchaseandinstallation.Thesestagesmayhavedifferentnames;inquiry,forexample,issometimescalledawareness.Often,thereisafifthstagecalledloyaltyoradvocacy. Buyerpersonas.Abuyerpersonaisacompositerepresentationofamarketsegment.ItisanimportanttoolforcreatingjourneymapsbecauseCXteamscanmoreaccuratelypredictthosecustomers'behaviorsandfeelingsusingpersonas. Customertouchpoints.Acustomerjourneymapshouldalwaysincludetouchpointsthatacustomerislikelytouseateachstageinthejourney.Forexample,duringtheinstallationorservicestage,acustomermayusephonecallsorchatbotstocommunicatewithabrand. Emotions.Oneofthemaingoalsofcreatingacustomerjourneymapistopredictthecustomers'emotionsandfeelings.Thisway,abrandcanpinpointpotentialpainpointsandsuccesses. Creatingacustomerjourneymap Eachstageofthecustomerjourneyisvitalforsalesandmarketingdepartments. Thecustomerjourneybeginswhenacustomerasksaboutaproductorservice.Atthatpoint,theybecomeaprospect.Thecomparisonstageiswherecustomersusereadilyavailableinformationaboutdifferentproductsinanygivenmarkettocomparefeatures,pricing,customerserviceratingsandsoon.Thepurchasestageiswhentheprospectbecomesacustomer,whichthentriggerstheservicedepartmenttobeginthefinalphase:installation. Thereareimportantrequirementstomapcustomerjourneyseffectively. Focusoncustomerperspective.Thejourneymapneedstofocusonhowacustomerexperiencesinteractions,nothowthecompanyperceivesthoseexperiences. Accountforcustomersegments.Accountforthefactthatdifferentcustomersegmentsexperienceproducts,brandsandservicesdifferently. Researchyourmaps.Usetoolssuchascustomeranalyticstodevelopyourmapstobestreflectyourconstituenciesandtheirlikelybehavior. Ensurethatmapsreflectalltouchpoints.Mapsmustreflectallpotentialcommunicationpointsthroughwhichcustomerswanttoconnectwithcompanies:email,text,websites,socialmediaplatformsandsoon.Mapsmustalsoreflectdifferentsequencesforthesemaps,inwhichcustomerstakedifferentpaths. Whendesigningacustomerjourneymap,there'snosetprotocol,butthereareguidelinesforit,includingthatitshouldbevisuallyappealing,comprehensiveandunderstandable.Typicalcustomerjourneymapsincludeinfographics,diagramsandtimelines.Multimediahasalsobeenusedforcustomerjourneymaps,includingvideosandstoryboards. Theinformationincludedonthemapshouldhavebothstatisticalandanecdotalinsightandshouldbecustomer-facing. Customerjourneymappingtoolsandsoftware Withcustomerjourneymapsbeingsuchanimportantvisualforsalesdepartments,thereisaplethoraoftools,customerjourneymaptemplatesandsoftwaretohelpeasetheprocess. Therearetwowaysofthinkingaboutthetoolsthathelptocreateacustomerjourneymap.Thefirstissoftwarethathelpsidentifythedifferenttouchpointsofcustomersandthatcompilesthatinformationforthedepartment.Then,ifthereisagraphicsteamorgraphicdesignerin-house,creatingacustomerjourneymapislefttothem. Therearealsoready-to-usetoolsthatcanhelpwithcustomerjourneymappingvisualization.SomeincludeSalesforceJourneyBuilder,SmaplyandCanvanizer. Commonproblems Creatingacustomerjourneymapisnotalwaysaneasyorsimpleprocess.Somecommonchallengesinclude: Failingtoinvolvenecessarydepartments.Whencreatingacustomerjourneymap,organizationsmustinvolveavarietyofrolesanddepartments,especiallycustomer-facingones.Companiesshouldreceiveinputfromtheiremployeesduringthecreationofacustomerjourneymap;theyshouldalsodistributethemapsandeducatecustomerexperience,marketingandsalesteamsabouthowtousethemtomarkettotargetaudiencesand,ultimately,improveCX. Lackofcustomerdata.Customerjourneymapsaredifficulttocreatewithoutrelyingondatatodeterminethecustomers'behaviors,preferredtouchpointsandcustomersatisfactionlevelsduringeachstageinthejourney.Companiescangathercustomerdatathroughimplementingvoice-of-the-customerprograms,deployingsurveysandmonitoringsocialmediachannels. Treatingthecustomerjourneymapasastaticentity.Customers,marketsandproductschange,andcompaniesshouldconsistentlyupdatecustomerjourneymapstoreflectthosechanges.Withoutfrequentupdates,customerjourneymapsmaybecomeinaccurateoroutdated. ThiswaslastupdatedinJuly2020 ContinueReadingAboutcustomerjourneymap Airlinenavigatesasmoothcustomerjourneymap Contactcentersoftwareforcustomerjourneysuccess Customerjourneymapsimprovecustomerexperience Howtocreateacustomerjourneymap--withtemplate RelatedTerms customerintelligence(CI) Customerintelligence(CI)istheprocessofgatheringandanalyzinginformationderivedfromcustomerdatathatanorganization... See complete definition SalesforceServiceCloud SalesforceServiceCloudisacustomerrelationshipmanagement(CRM)platformforcustomerserviceandsupport,basedonthe... See complete definition Whatiscustomerexperiencemanagement(CEMorCXM)? Buildingbrandloyaltyamongcustomersinvolvesacustomer-centricstrategyandmeasuringfeedbackthroughvoiceofthecustomer... See complete definition DigDeeperonCustomerjourneymapping 9stepstocreateacustomerserviceplan By:Sandra Mathis BritishGastacklesomnichannelcustomercorrespondence By:Cliff Saran Guidetobuildinganeffectiveemployeeexperiencestrategy By:David Essex Howtodesignanemployeejourneymap(withtemplate) By:Rachel Meltzer SponsoredNews Top5TipstoHelpFirmsNavigateCloudTransition –VMware 5StepstoTransformHowYouManageStorageandDataServices –NetApp SeeMore VendorResources MapContenttotheBuyer’sJourney –TechTarget IntradoExpertGuideToCustomerJourneyMapping –Intrado LatestTechTargetresources ContentManagement UnifiedCommunications DataManagement EnterpriseAI ERP SearchContentManagement Top8enterprisecontentmanagementchallengestoavoid Asorganizationsplanenterprisecontentmanagementstrategies,challengesmayarise--likecost,securityandstorage.Careful... 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