It is important to understand that customer journey maps are not a one size fits all approach to customer experience – different customer segments or customer personas will follow a different customer journey.
For this reason customer journey maps should outline the steps that need to be taken for the customer to achieve their goal, as opposed to the judicial approach of enabling the enterprise to achieve it’s goals. In a truly customer focused business, the processes are aligned and the enterprise cannot achieve it’s goals unless the customer achieves theirs first.
A fundamental way to understand or interpret the customer journey is to understand the language patterns of the customer and be able to adapt your language patterns and communication style to those.
We have found a great way of helping our customers achieve this, is through BBB Advisory’s Think for Success programs. These programs are based on the acclaimed Whole Brain Thinking model developed by Herrmann International (HBDI) and help clients develop a client centric mindset and communication style. Director Steve Mitchinson is a highly regarded and certified facilitator with Herrmann International.
Too many organisations that invest in customer experience programs start to believe that they are at the centre of the customer’s universe, when in fact the opposite is the situation – the customer is only engaging the enterprise because you have caused them to do so. Even if the service experience is a good one it is still an unnecessary or avoidable one.
To create customer journey thinking across the customer service teams and indeed the entire enterprise, at each and every interaction, in each and every channel, we need to understand:
- Who is the customer?
- What is this specific customer’s objective or goal?
- What did the customer do just before they engaged with us, and what did they do just before that, and before that…?
- What will the customer do immediately after this interaction, and after that, and after that…?
If we can answer these first four questions we will be in a much better space to understand what will make the customer happy, or indeed delight, our customer – what will create that memorable experience that will be remembered way after the product or service is purchased
For decades we have focused on the immediate interaction that is before us with little thought going into where does this interaction sit on the customer’s journey around our products or services.
If your organisation wants to deliver a customer experience as opposed to ustomer service then please contact BBB Advisory, one of Australia’s leading customer management and customer experience practices.
We have extensive experience in delivering successful customer experience transformation programs across a wide range of highly respected private sector and public sector enterprises.
Whether your aim is to increase revenue, improve customer retention, create increased organisational capacity, improve your Net Promoter Score (NPS), or CSat measures, or indeed improved employee engagement, we can provide an effective solution for you and your enterprise.
A r t i c l e wr i t t e n b y S t e v e Mi t c h i n s o n
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