The Making of a Customer Journey Map
December 2017
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Introduction The financial services industry is in a state of transformation. Disruptors like FinTech companies and other non-traditional competitors are forcing banks to evolve their products and services, and to improve customer experience. This is the story of one bank, which found a practical tool to help them navigate their customer centric transformation. Read on to discover how they used customer journey mapping to discover key insights about their business, and to identify opportunities to improve customer experience.
Lisa, VP at the bank Ms. VP is a dynamic leader with a track record of bringing about large-scale, highly complex transformations. She’s on a mission to make sure the organization remains relevant in the experience economy by improving the customer experience. Can she find the resources she needs?
Matt, director of customer experience
Ana, Valtech’s top customer experience expert
He’s motivated by bringing humanity back into business, and is excited to help Ms. VP find new ways to improve customer experience. How will he use customer journey mapping to put his company on the path to a customer centric transformation?
She’s a troublemaker -- in a good way. She loves parachuting into new business environments to help stakeholders collaborate to improve the customer experience provided by their organization. Will she be able to help Matt make a difference?
Table of contents 01
Building the case for customer journey mapping
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Getting ready to start
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Finding the right facts
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Mapping the customer journey
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Using the customer journey map
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Building the case for customer journey mapping Like any new idea, customer journey mapping can be met with resistance. Luckily, Matt was able to demonstrate the value of the exercise.
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One day at the bank...
What can we do to improve our customer experience?
Well, first we have to be able to see our business from the customers’ perspective. I’d like to create a customer journey map to get us started.
What is a customer journey map? A customer journey map is a visual represen-
tation of the customer’s path from the moment they identify the need for a product or service
to the moment they begin to use it. It includes
the customers’ thoughts, feelings and actions, as well as their interactions with your brand, also known as touchpoints.
4 ways customer journey mapping can help your company Break down silos: unite all stakeholders around providing customers’ with the best possible experience. Streamline processes: identify opportunities to increase efficiency and reduce operational costs. Increase customer satisfaction: meet customers’ needs at every step of their journey. Foster innovation: get insights on how to develop unique solutions to delight customers.
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Sounds like a big project. How will it benefit our business? It’s going to let us put ourselves in our customers’ shoes. We’ll be able to understand how customers feel and what they’re thinking when they interact with our brand.
Did you know? Companies with a formal customer journey management program get:*
54% greater return on marketing investment 3.5X more revenue from customer referrals
Quick tip: Be strategic When selecting which customer journey to
map first link it to a clearly defined business objective.
56% more cross- and upsell revenue 24% more positive social media mentions 10X reduction in the cost of customer service
*Customer Journey Mapping: Lead the Way to Advocacy, Aberdeen Group
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Getting ready to start To make the most of customer journey mapping, Matt started by establishing the scope of the exercise and building a strong team. He also hired an external consultant to help manage the process.
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The next morning...
We’re looking to grow our mortgage line of business, especially with first-time home buyers. Can you help with that?
That sounds like a great place to start customer journey mapping. We’ll map the journey people go through, from the moment they starting considering purchasing a home, to the moment they’ve moved in.
Opportunities for customer journey mapping Developing a new product Redesigning a company website Planning integrated marketing communications Setting up an onboarding process Reviewing an existing process
That afternoon, Matt called a meeting with marketing, operations, customer service and research...
We’ve got a really exciting initiative to help us better understand our customers in the pipelines. But to make it work we really need all of your expertise. Would you be interested in joining the team?
Sure, it’ll be great for the marketing team to learn more about our target audience.
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Quick tip: Ask the experts
Suggested core team Build a solid starting lineup with representation
For the best results, get input from multiple
people within your organization. Go outside of your core team and speak to all stakeholders involved in the journey you’re mapping, such as call centre reps or IT.
from key departments:
Marketing team member Product developer Research analyst Sales team member Customer service staff
The next day, Matt reach out to a consultant...
This is a new project for our organization. We are looking for some external expertise. What can your organization offer?
We’ve supported many clients in customer journey mapping initiatives. It can be a tricky process, and it’s often valuable to have an outside perspective. We’d love to help your team get started!
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Finding the right facts Matt knew his team needed to collect lots of information to create an accurate and insightful customer journey map. He put a few research initiatives in motion, and brought the team together to analyze the findings.
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We need information about how first time home buyers approach getting a mortgage.
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I’ve got lots of data! Internal reports. And great insights from this year’s Pwc Canada’s research.
That’s great for quantitative information! But, to make a great customer journey map we’ll also need to capture the feelings and thoughts of your customers. We’ll have to get out there and collect some qualitative data.
Quick tip: Start with what you’ve got Use data from existing re-
ports and external sources to help create a frame for
your customer journey, and to build questionnaires for
qualitative research efforts.
Ana decided to go on an undercover mission...
3 research methods to try Talk to frontline staff: find out about common
I couldn’t find this information anywhere on your site. Maybe you can help?
Of course! Let me just get you the booklet.
customer complaints and learn about customers’ needs.
Explore the field: observe customer interac-
tions with your brand, or play mystery shopper to get a firsthand experience.
Connect with customers: Hold a focus group
or schedule one-on-one interviews where you can ask open-ended questions.
That’s the fourth time this has happened today. Better make a note of it!
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After a few weeks of intense research, the team reconvened to review their findings...
Hey, we offer lots of cool tools for first-time homebuyers, like a mortgage calculator. But it looks like people need more than that. They’re really not sure about the right time to buy a home. Do we offer any advice?
Good question. That could be an opportunity to explore a little later on!
Quick tip: Be a trend spotter Comb through your data to find common themes. This will help you identify which insights are most relevant and accurate. It will also point out gaps in your service offering, or opportunities for innovation.
Core team in a room putting post its on a board, looking confused about where to put Post It 3.
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Mapping the customer journey After some great teamwork, thorough research, and a lot of analysis, Matt and his team were able to start mapping the customer journey.
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Of course, the map you see here took a lot of effort to put together. We started by collaboratively planning out a rough outline using post its on a board. Later, Matt and his team of designers transformed their work into this lovely visualization.
Customers’ steps and actions: map it all, from online research and speaking to friends to actually visiting your business.
Customers’ thoughts: map questions they may have, as well as desires or concerns.
Customers’ feelings: chart positive and negative emotions to identify opportunities to provide support.
Influencers: document which people or resources your customers turn to for information.
Opportunities and ideas: jot down ways to improve customer experience. Leave space for additional input after a brainstorm. Touchpoints: map each time customers encounter your brand, whether its’ online, over the phone or in person.
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Using the customer journey map Once Matt and his team had the customer journey all mapped out they got together to brainstorm ideas on how to improve the customer experience.
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That’s surprising! People who are thinking about buying their first home aren’t interested in calculating their borrowing capacity right away. They’re focused on finding the perfect house.
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You can do even more That’s People who are thinking about than that!surprising! What if your What in if we create an online buying their first home aren’tYeah! interested calcuteam was able to help tool that helps people figure out lating theirfind borrowing customers their capacity right away. They’re their dream home would look focused on finding thewhat perfect house. dream home? like, and where it would be located?
Wow, we should rethink the timing of some of our campaigns. We could partner with realtors and promote our services on their websites…
Run a successful brainstorm Create a comfortable atmosphere: open with icebreakers, or bring snacks to share to get people relaxed and the creative juices flowing.
Shoot for the sky: start by looking for ideas for a utopian customer journey, even if they’re difficult to execute.
Bring it back to reality: identify low-hanging fruit and select a few bigger solutions to consider.
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But, Matt’s team didn’t stop there. Through making the map they discovered how important it was to work with people from different departments. They started sharing their map with the whole organization.
Hey, check this out. No wonder click throughs were low on that email blast.
Yeah, this gives me some good ideas on how we should set up our next drip campaign. Let’s go discuss over a coffee.
Oh, they don’t want to know about the numbers… Strange!
Wow, this is cool. I wish they had something like this for onboarding first time investors. I should find out who to talk to.
Quick tip: Share your work The more people in your organization see your map and understand the insights, the easier it will be to set initiatives in motion and to improve customer experience.
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3 ways to display your map Create a presentation and take it on a company-wide tour. Print out posters and display them in common areas. Set up an exhibit where staff can walk through the customer journey.
I have to admit, that was a pretty valuable exercise. It’s definitely brought some value.
Thank you. I think it’s really got people thinking about the business from the customer’s point of view. And we definitely learned a lot. But it’s not over! A customer journey map is a living document. Once we try out a few of the simple solutions, we should update it to keep track of our progress.
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Is this the end? Well, no. A business cannot become customer centric overnight. And one tool cannot guide an organization through the twists and turns of business transformation. Creating a customer journey map is a great first step towards becoming more customer centric. It helps businesses understand their customers and identify strategies to improve products or services. But, actually putting these valuable insights into practice requires additional work. The people at the bank continued working to improve their c ustomer experience, using a multitude of tools and approaches. For example, to start executing some of the initiatives identified in their journey map, they created a service blueprint, which is an operational planning tool that maps out the staff, systems and other elements necessary to implement a new initiative. But that’s a story for another time.
Ready to start your own customer journey mapping project? We’ve got a team of skillful user experienced specialists who would be happy to help. Can’t wait to find out what happens next? Contact our team to find out more about how to transform your business.
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