A simple guide to customer journey mapping. It covers the basic definition of the journey, step-by-step mapping process, common mistakes, and related templates.
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Original article: https://realtimeboard.com/blog/customer-journey/
Journey mapping tool: https://realtimeboard.com
All You Need to Know About Customer Journey Mapping
1. ALL YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT
CUSTOMER JOURNEY
MAPPING
Realtime
Board
RealtimeBoard.com
2. Current trends prove that ideal customer experience is
soon going to be a cornerstone of corporate success.
!
So here is a collec9on of comprehensive instruc9ons to
customer journey mapping from Real9meBoard library.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
3 Introduction
6 What is customer journey mapping (CJM)?
7 The process of CJM
8 Gathering Information
9 Introducing the Team
10 Brainstorming
12 Illustrating
13 Creating an Action Plan and Implementation
14 Revising CJM
15 Common mistakes while CJM
16 Related reading
17 Related templates
3. INTRODUCTION
Customer experience is considered to
be the main opportunity to differen9ate
from compe9tors in 2015–2020, bea9ng
out product quality and compe99ve
pricing.
!
It means customer experience will soon
determine referral, reten9on, revenue,
and overall growth in the majority of
businesses.
3
Figure: Econsultancy, Adobe B2B Digital Trends 2015
B2B (607 respondents)
B2C (893 respondents)
0% 20% 40% 60%
Customer service /
customer experience
Product / service
quality
Product / service
choice
Convenience
Mobile
Price
4. INTRODUCTION
The study by customer strategist Esteban Kolsky
shows that most companies struggle to get
customers’ a[en9on and acquire newcomers, but this
isn’t financially sound: it’s 6–7 9mes more expensive
to a[ract new customers than to keep exis9ng ones.
!
That means the focus needs to be on improving the
experience for exis9ng customers.
4
67%of consumers cite bad experiences
as the reason for churn
91%of unhappy customers simply leave
without a complaint
5. Learn how to improve the experience for
existing customers by creating a
customer journey map!
6. The customer journey map (CJM) is a visual
graph with the interac9on steps visitors and
users go through to become customers.
!
The basic CJM template includes a specific
persona, the beginning–to–end steps of the
customer experience, and poten9al emo9onal
highs and lows.
WHAT IS CUSTOMER
JOURNEY MAPPING?
6
Step 1 Step 2 Step 3 Step 4
+
-
-
+
7. THE PROCESS OF
CUSTOMER JOURNEY
MAPPING
Although the process varies from one company
to another, here is one of the thousands of
scenarios for CJM.
7
Step 5
Crea9ng an ac9on plan
and Implementa9on
Step 3
Brainstorming
Step 4
Illustra9ng
Step 1
Gathering informa9on
Step 2
Introducing the team
Step 6
Revising your CJM
8. 8
STEP 1:
GATHERING
INFORMATION
Start by se`ng a goal for CJM workshop.
Define a customer persona relevant to your
goal and the scope of ac9vi9es you’d like to
assess (e.g. from first contact to sign up, from
ge`ng a trial to purchasing). Then gather as
much informa9on about this persona as
possible.
!
When gathering this data, you need both
quan9ta9ve and qualita9ve informa9on to
gain the deepest insight into your customer.
The more data you can get — the more
chances you have to understand customer
experience correctly.
Figure: A landscape of user research methods, Chris9an Rohrer
Natural use of product
Scripted (oden lab–based) use of product
De–contextualized / not using product
Combina9on / hybrid
Interviews
Focus groups
Par9cipatory design
Ethnographic field studies
Usability lab studies
Card sor9ng
Desirability studies
Customer feedback
Diary/camera studies
Concept tes9ng
Unmoderated remote panel studies
Moderated remote usability studies
Usability benchmarking
Eyetracking
Email surveys
Intercept surveys
True intent studies
Unmoderated UX studies
A/B tes9ng
Clickstream analysis
Qualita1ve Quan1ta1ve
A4tudinalBehavioral
9. STEP 2:
INTRODUCING
THE TEAM
Crea9ng a CJM usually involves a cross–
func9onal team that represents different
departments and seniority levels.
!
Set up a date for the workshop and create a
shared space. Consider brainstorming
exercises that will help you warm up the
par9cipants or refresh them if they reach a
deadlock.
!
At the beginning of the workshop, explain the
stakes and the goal of the workshop and agree
upon the schedule.
9
Mee9ng room Shared whiteboard Online tools
Shared space
10. Plan for the lion’s share of the 9me to
be the brainstorming ac9vity. Select a
brainstorming technique that you think
will best help your cross–func9onal
team generate new ideas for future
customer experience.
!
The discussion starts with a briefing
about the customer persona and then
an analysis of the research.
10
STEP 3:
BRAINSTORMING
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11. Then, the team should generate as many
touchpoints as possible and consider
relevant channels between them.
!
Touchpoint is a point of contact between
the customer and your product. Each
touchpoint is an opportunity to
strengthen the rela9onships with the
customer and move towards the greatest
customer experience.
!
Make each touchpoint more informa9ve
by adding customer goal at each stage,
sta9s9cs, actual and poten9al barriers,
and poten9al KPIs.
11
STEP 3:
BRAINSTORMING
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12. Ader you have allowed sufficient 9me
for brainstorming, the team is ready
for the mapping.
!
If you used a physical whiteboard for
the CJM, make sure someone is
responsible for digi9zing the final
layout – it should be an editable and
shareable work.
!
RealtimeBoard template allows to
collaborate in real–9me from any place
and share the results with the en9re
company, including remote employees.
12
STEP 4:
ILLUSTRATING
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13. 13
Ader the map is ready, analyze whether
each touchpoint gives value to the
customer. The gaps between desired
customer experience and the one
actually received should define your
ac9on plan. An effec9ve plan covers
deadlines, responsibili9es, and success
criteria.
STEP 5:
CREATING AN
ACTION PLAN AND
IMPLEMENTATION
RealtimeBoard.com
14. 14
STEP 6:
REVISING
YOUR CJM
CJM needs to be adapted to changing
behavioral pa[erns, new tools, and
communica9on channels that arise
constantly.
!
Consider establishing a standard
schedule for revising your customer
journey map. During revision process,
point out the changes and achieved
KPIs.
!
Real9meBoard will save you 9me on
illustra9on if you plan to repeatedly
revise your CJM.
RealtimeBoard.com
15. 15
7 COMMON MISTAKES
WHILE CUSTOMER
JOURNEY MAPPING
CJM is created from the company’s point of view.
If you don’t interpret your customer’s experience,
you’re in freefall. Don't guess, let the informa9on
speak for itself.
!
CJM is an old document with restricted access.
The customer journey map should be a live
document that you con9nuously develop with
your team.
!
One CJM for all customers. Each customer
persona is unique. You may cluster them according
to research results, but each group requires a
specific customer journey map.
!
CJM doesn’t include an action plan. The gaps
between the desired customer experience and the
one actually received should be your action plan.
CJM deems some touchpoints unimportant and
skips them. You need to account for every point
where your customer comes into contact with
your business.
!
Customer journey analysis concentrates on the
bad experience. Although pain points are vital
opportuni9es for increasing customer sa9sfac9on,
success points can poten9ally extend the posi9ve
experience by affec9ng emo9onal decision-‐
making.
!
CJM is a single linear path. Flexibility is the key to
great customer experience.
16. 16
This presenta9on is based on Real9meBoard's
customer journey mapping guide. You can
read it on our blog.
!
However, this framework isn't set in stone.
It's one of the op9ons meant to assist you in
understanding the process of CJM be[er and
star9ng it easier.
!
Feel free to customize the process and
improve it from one revision to another, but
avoid the mistakes we men9oned.
RELATED
READING
17. Integrate CJM with customizable
templates like Persona, Empathy Map,
Service Blueprint, and Ac9on Plan to
improve the process and get more
streamlined interface.
!
Check out the Customer Journey
demo board to learn how to use
them together.
17
RELATED
TEMPLATES
RealtimeBoard.com