As customer journeys and touch points increase in number and complexity, mapping them also becomes increasingly intricate. However, getting started doesn’t have to be complicated; a basic approach to begin with can also lead to long-term success..

The aim is to gain a better understanding of how your customers experience your company, and this is where the insights generated by customer journey mapping can be extremely valuable.

A targeted CJM process will typically result in:

Improved customer loyalty
Greater customer retention
Added sales
More recommendations by your customers to other potential customers

So there are many excellent reasons for starting your customer journey mapping process with us. We want to help you both chart a course – and stick to it.

What is a customer journey?

A customer journey describes all the stages, situations, and interactions your customers have with your brand. Not just directly, but also everything that happens leading up to a purchase. This might be initial research before making a purchase, visiting your store or website, and experiences with your product. It might also be interactions with customer service as well as more indirect touch points such as ads, reviews, and social media.

All of this contributes to the customer’s impression of your company – and provides an overall view of the complete customer journey – from the customer’s point of view.

It goes without saying that a good customer journey is curated to present you as reputable and competent at every stage – if that’s your aim, of course. This requires the kind of full-scale overview that comes with CJM.

It is crucial that the customer journey is always described from the customer’s point of view. Far too many companies only consider the areas where there is direct customer contact. The key to customer centricity is to view things from the outside in – that is, from the customer’s perspective. Never from the inside out.

What is customer journey mapping?

CJM is the process of identifying and assessing every single touch point with customers, including indirect interactions It’s about achieving a visual overview of the customer’s interactions with your company.

Customer journey mapping can’t stand alone, and the process is typically a starting point for a wider process aimed at optimizing a company’s customer management.

An important part of our mission at Loyalty Group consists of working with CJM in ways that make sense for the individual company. We assist with facilitation, maintaining momentum, and evaluations in connection with CJM projects as part of broader customer centricity initiatives. We consider CJM to be a good starting point for assessing which questions should be included in our surveys – and especially for mapping responsibilities for the different areas within an organization.

How is customer journey mapping used in practice?

Having a clear understanding of your customer’s journey is a valuable tool. It is extremely healthy to examine yourself through your customer’s eyes and it makes clear where and why you lose customers along the way. After all, you can only address hassles and barriers if you’re aware of them.

Customer journey mapping can also help make your communication with customers more relevant. When you know where your customer is on their journey, you can target them more effectively than with a one-size-fits-all approach.

Finally, customer journey mapping is a good exercise for taking a closer look at your company’s organization. Most companies have silos – either intentionally or accidentally – which aren’t there for the customer’s sake. In fact, they often block the smooth and seamless customer experience. And mapping the customer journey can spotlight walls within the organization that are unproductive and should be torn down.

How is customer journey mapping done?

Every impactful CJM process starts with the question: Why are we doing this? The aim is to clearly explain what the map is for and who will benefit from it. It serves as an excellent guide in a process that at times can seem daunting – and it also helps ensure that you don’t waste your energy

Next comes the research phase where you gather information. Usually your customers and your employees possess this valuable information, but there are also insights to be found in currently available data – both your own or from other sources.

With this data, you can segment your customers or create personas – customer prototypes – which allow you to take the customer journey as viewed through their eyes. Then, you make a note of every single stage of your customer’s journey. Remember, the point of view should always be your customer’s.

Analyze the customer journey – and take appropriate action. What is the journey like from the moment a need arises to the successful completion of a transaction? Are there barriers and needless noise? Optimize your customer’s journey – and keep your Customer Journey Map up to date.

How we assist with CJM

When we help customers with customer journey mapping, much of what we do is organizational. We facilitate the research and mapping stages, we bring the organization together across departments and silos, and we secure support for the project from all key areas within the organization.

Ownership among employees is a crucial factor for success, and we will be looking to motivate the front line of your business.

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Loyalty Group brought a well-stocked toolbox and structure for mapping our customer’s life cycle. They coordinated the entire process and provided strategic sparring as well as examples of best practice we could lean on.

– Marketing Manager, Unity Technologies

Customer Journey Mapping