Customer Journey Map is essentially an illustration, a map of the customer journey that details their journey between touchpoints with a company or territory. Within the framework of this map, we have the opportunity to explore and digitize the client's experience: what questions he asks himself, what tasks he wants to solve with the help of the company, his emotions, impression and satisfaction from interacting with an enterprise or organization.
The mapping process is a comprehensive study of customer behavior and the customer experience being created. No two cards are the same, and no companies, products or services are exactly the same. But we can show you the best examples to look at to understand what CJM is and how it can be useful for your business.
Customer Journey Mapping as Research
Using the example of CJM, which we developed for the experience of visiting the city, you can see what exactly can be explored:
- Key milestones and steps of interaction between the client and the company
- What task does the client face, in what context does it happen (plan a budget, get a list, etc.)
- What does he think? What questions does he ask himself and the company representatives?
- What is he doing exactly at this moment? The key steps that the client takes at one stage or another of interaction with the company (searches and compares information, tries to get advice by phone, goes to the branch, etc.).
- Where exactly are the points of contact where the interaction takes place? (website, social media, short number, street, terminal)
- Rating of guest sensations, his satisfaction from this stage
- Pain points in customer experience
- "Points of growth" for the company and offers of consultants
The data to fill in such a table cannot be based on guesswork. Before starting to develop a map, a company needs to decide on “personas”, portraits of its typical customers and the “best” customers that they would like to attract.
And after determining this circle and the nature of the “persons”, it is necessary to conduct a survey of customers about their journey, the process of interacting with the company, in order to understand their motivation, goals, buying habits and pain points. No need to console yourself with the hope that we understand the desires of our customers. Very often, in the process of such research, we discover a lot of new things and see our services from an unexpected angle.
What else can be included in your Customer Journey Map?
The more detailed the map is, the more clearly it reflects the path of interaction with the client, and the more likely you are to be able to identify areas for further improvement. Therefore, it is necessary to include in the discussion any additional questions that may clarify this path. For example, you can add, as shown in the map below from Heart of Client , how much time each stage takes the client.
Describe opportunities for improvement
The map itself is not the result of the work, the map is only a tool for measuring and evaluating your service. If the card does not lead to concrete changes and improvements in the organization and in the customer experience, it will simply become a path and a beautiful symbol of a waste of time.
Once the key steps, touchpoints, emotions, and customer questions have been identified, a coaching session can be held to identify opportunities for process optimization or improvement.
For example, this illustrative map from the Smart Cities project shows how the city of Edinburgh can improve public and city services.
Analyze and be prepared for unexpected discoveries
The value of CJM increases when you are able to correlate results with other enterprise data such as NPS survey data, social media mentions of the enterprise, user experience, and others. For example, in our study of the hospitality of the city of Almaty, we found that the willingness to recommend a city to visit is directly affected by the feeling of security of a foreign tourist during the stay.
How are discoveries waiting for you in your customer journey map?
The material was based on the translation of an article by Neil Davey. The material is supplemented with author's comments and links.
Dmitry Provotorov, co-founder of Manufactura, talks about how to use CJM to turn a two-star mobile app rating into five and quadruple revenue.
To bookmarks
Customer Journey Map(User Journey Map) is a product development methodology based on a detailed analysis of the needs and behavior of the audience. The result of its application is an increase in the proportion of users satisfied with the use of the product. This article will discuss what the use of CJM can give the product and its owner.
What does the map show
The work on the CJM methodology is aimed at clarifying the following points:
- at what points the audience comes into contact with the product;
- how different segments of the audience interact with the product;
- what stages users go through on the way to their goals and what emotions they experience;
- where they face barriers to achieving goals;
- how well users move from one stage to another.
To answer these questions, you need to observe the audience. If the project is just being developed, then one of the options for obtaining data is to launch an MVP (minimum viable product, minimum viable product) with an analysis of the behavior of the audience at each step.
Here's what Pedro Marquez, product designer at Booking.com, the largest online hotel booking service, said about it:
Moving in small iterations at the start gives you real confidence that you are creating something right. Making a big decision without intermediate measurements is risky. If it works, you don't understand what exactly worked. If it doesn't work, you don't know what needs to be fixed.
Pedro Marquez
Booking.com product designer
Market opinion: CJM is just starting its journey in Russia
How widely is the Russian market familiar with the CJM methodology? Manufactura asked this question to several companies with notable digital products.
Those Russian companies that use the Customer Journey Map throughout the entire process of product creation and life are rare and very advanced teams in UX. CJM is a practice that should be used when building a product from the very beginning, even at the idea stage.
Natalia Sturza
UX-analyst of the bank for entrepreneurs "Tochka"
There are few companies in Russia using CJM. Most work within the traditional approach of formal improvement. For example, a company is implementing an electronic queue system to automate processes and throws all its efforts into its development, while not delving into how to make it really convenient for people who work with it every day. Nevertheless, the demand for the transformation of business processes within the CJM exists, and it is quite large.
Alexander Kireev
Neuroniq Consultant (CJM projects for X5 Retail Group, Rigla pharmacy chain, etc.)
Ozon does not adhere to strict canons and rules when designing products. We select tools depending on the task, and our developers can use the Customer Journey Map as well. This methodology for analyzing user behavior and identifying points for product improvement is quite effective and easy to use.
Daria Negresco
Public Relations Manager at Ozon
CJM is now gaining momentum, I see him in the digital world more and more often. I brought the Customer Journey Map to Evotor from my former place works - from Alfa-Bank's digital company Alfa-Lab. There, this methodology is used in many products related to Internet and mobile banking. However, I will not argue that absolutely everyone needs CJM - it is better to try and evaluate it personally.
Hope Avdanina
Product Leader at Evotor
We have been using the Customer Journey Map since the very launch of the Conscience project. CJM helps to evaluate the entire customer journey: from the moment of his first visit to the Conscience card site to the moment he becomes an active purchaser of goods in installments. We also use CJM to improve the application that our sales agents use. So, we added gamification elements to it - we gave sales agents the opportunity to compete throughout the day and challenge each other to battles. As a result, increased employee interest in work and their productivity.
Nadezhda Onischuk
Product Development Manager of installment card "Conscience"
CJM can be called a well-known but little-used tool in the arsenal of product managers. At Skyeng, we use CJM to develop products that include not only IT, but also a large operational component - communication with teachers, call center, customer care, and so on. At the same time, our CJM is dual: it displays how the paths of the student and teacher overlap. This helps to improve user interaction both with the product and with the teacher.
Mikhail Karpov
Skyeng Product Director
In my opinion, CJM is now poorly distributed, companies with such products can be counted on the fingers of one hand. We at Dodo Pizza are just starting to use CJM, but we have been using a related tool for quite a long time - User Story Map, which serves to visualize complex user scenarios and prioritize development tasks.
Anton Bevzyuk
Chief Agile Officer at Dodo Pizza
CJM is increasingly used by large companies with complex products. Scenarios where there are more than three points of contact can be considered complex. If you have an online store with a chain of "external banners - store - call center - courier", then it may seem to you that you keep all the transitions between these points in your head. But this is illusory. And the owners of complex products were the first to understand this, but now the rest of the market is also coming to this. We at QIWI build CJM for each new feature and periodically examine the user's path through already implemented solutions.
Alena Egorova
UX designer, customer experience manager at QIWI Wallet
Thus, market players consider CJM to be one of the most effective, but still not widely used tools.
Five steps to understanding
The Customer Journey Map methodology describes general principles product development, the application of which in practice may vary. The CJM use case we use at Manufactura has five steps.
Step 1. Audience segmentation
The work on compiling CJM begins with the reception of classical marketing by dividing the target audience into interest groups.
Our client, the German infotainment portal Meinestadt, approached us with the task of developing a mobile application. We installed triggers in it to record user actions and identified the most common scenarios in them, which allowed us to divide the target audience into three main segments.
- Party-goer. Logs into the app to search for interesting events (concerts, exhibitions, sports events) and buy tickets.
- Navigator. Uses the application to find the right places - restaurants, bars, gas stations and so on.
- Reader. He studies the news feed to keep abreast of what is happening in the city.
It is noteworthy that the client wanted to bet on a completely different audience segment - authors who themselves generate content in the application. But the analysis showed that there are almost no such users. This saved the product owner from erroneously investing in unclaimed functionality.
For new products that do not yet have a well-established audience, you can use the analysis of competitive analogues, data from open sources, consultations with experts, questioning the intended audience, forecasting based on theoretical models (for example, the well-known Pareto 20/80 principle) and some other methods.
Step 2. Determination of aha-moments
The Aha moment is the point where the user finds what they are looking for and experiences strong positive emotions. After that, he will most likely decide to become a regular visitor.
Therefore, in the search for aha-moments of a working product, measuring the retention rate for different audience segments helps: where there are more returns to using the product, goals are most likely achieved more often.
In the Meinestadt app, users from each of the three audience segments returned if they had found what they were looking for the previous time. A concert by your favorite band, a gas station with a low gas price, or an important announcement from the local police. "Found!" - that was their aha-moment.
Step 3. Formation of user scenarios (user flow)
Next, you need to figure out how the user arrives at the aha moment. For example, he sees an ad, installs an application, scrolls the news feed, sees an event, visits its page and - eureka! - buys tickets.
Steps are built into streams (user flow), after which you can measure the percentage of conversion by moving from step to step.
Various analytics systems help to establish the sequence of user actions.
- For web products: Google Analytics, Yandex.Metrica, Roistat.
- For mobile products: Localytics, AppMetrica from Yandex, Amplitude, Flurry Analytics, Fabric, CleverTap, Adjust, Branch.io.
Step 4. Mapping the Customer Journey Map
User flows, consisting of steps and aha-moments, are combined on a visual map that clearly shows all the main models of audience interaction with the product.
The value of this map is in high objectivity - it is based on the results of analytics real events and contains no untested hypotheses.
Behavior map of the three main segments of the target audience of the Meinestadt mobile application
Step 5. Analysis of the state of the audience, identification of barriers
The second important document in compiling the Customer Journey Map, in addition to the user movement scheme, is its decoding with a description of each step of the user and the removal of data characterizing his behavior at this step.
Knowing the size of the audience at each stage, we can calculate the conversion of the transition from step to step and find critical moments. If 80% of users go from the first step to the second, and only 5% from the second to the third, this means that somewhere there is a barrier.
Perhaps the user did not find the search icon, or a link appeared on his path leading away from the application. Having identified barriers, we can eliminate them: make the desired functionality more noticeable, remove distracting elements, bring the most requested options forward.
The result of compiling the Customer Journey Map is the ranking of functionality according to the degree of demand and a prioritized list of tasks for finalizing the product.
What did CJM give
By mapping the user journey for Meinestadt, we were able to develop a development strategy for the application that took into account the interests of users. However, after the launch, the audience initially reacted with low ratings and outraged calls to return "everything as it was."
At the same time, users viewed more and more content and performed more and more targeted actions. The number of returns has also increased. People were outraged, but they used it because it was convenient.
After a while, the rating of the application went up sharply, rising from 2.0 to 4.67. The audience got used to the new interfaces, besides, we identified the main complaints of users and carried out a number of small improvements on them.
Profit at the first stage after the launch of the new application grew by 138%, and after a while - four times. This growth was organic - we did not introduce any additional monetization mechanics, did not increase the number of impressions and integrations of ads, we only developed a new structure and thoughtful interfaces for the application.
Why CJM
Based on the results of this project, our client and I made several conclusions for ourselves.
1. Users who achieve their goals with the help of the product bring profit to it
One of Meinestadt's monetization models is to receive a reward from the apartment rental service for each transferred user. In the new application, where search functions are brought to the fore, it has become much easier to search for rental housing, so there are many more clicks, and the amount of reward from the rental service has increased.
2. CJM allows you to use the project budget in the most rational way
The development of in-demand functionality, which was identified with the help of CJM, helped to achieve growth in the business performance of the product. By investing in untested hypotheses, the client risked spending the budget less efficiently.
Can do ten desired functions and win, or you can 50 unnecessary - and lose.
Thank you for your attention. Study your audience and people will be drawn to you.
By examining the question of what consumers are doing online, you will understand what gets here ... yes, in general, everything. Most importantly, it will become clear to your company what exactly you should focus on in order to influence decision-making and create a positive experience for the client at all stages of communication with you. In other words, you will get a complete picture of every moment of truth. In addition, you will learn about the specific factors, people, technologies, communities, and sources that influence your consumer. The result is clarity on the direction of marketing, sales, services and customer loyalty strategies. But this is not the end.
Inspired by McKinsey's work and my own research, I set out to transform the traditional concept of the sales funnel into a continuous, generic, and often repetitive customer journey.
This circle is not just continuous: each experience gained and each new point of contact in it influences the decisions of those who fall within it.
Experience is the most important thing for today. If you can't clearly define and shape your customer experience, other companies are starting to shape the Ultimate Moment of Truth for your brand.
At first glance, the stages of the dynamic customer journey (DCJ) are similar to the sales funnel, but the DCJ model fully reflects the journey of interconnected consumers. The funnel assumes that the movement of the consumer is built according to a linear scheme - from showing attention to the company to being interested in it, and then from making a decision to taking action. At the same time, brand loyalty and its public support are considered as a by-product of these stages. Studies have shown that initially neutral attitudes of interconnected consumers can subsequently tilt both positively and negatively.
Each stage of this journey is unique and determines how the consumer discovers the product, analyzes information, makes a decision and shares experience. Consider now the moments of truth and what people are looking for, talking about, sharing, and experiencing, and the factors that affect each stage of the dynamic customer journey:
- Awareness
- reflection
- Grade
- Purchase
- Loyalty
- public support
Traditional search engines and social networks, surveys within established social groups, simply reading reviews and sharing experiences - good or bad - all affect every step a connected customer takes. The truth is that before expressing commitment to your brand or public support, the client must go through this path again - to check the correctness of the decision made. And if his experience differs from the original in some way, the client may think about finding alternatives. Anyway new way just as informative and socially interconnected. The ultimate moment of truth will determine the path of any consumer who decides to embark on the dynamic path of the customer.
This is not just a circle, inside it lies a loop of influence dependent on the Final Moment of Truth. The exchange of experience firmly weaves the loop of influence and remains its integral part, which can be turned to at any of the moments of truth.
The importance of the influence loop cannot be overestimated. It affects every step of the consumer journey, every moment of truth.
At each stage of the DCJ, consumers can share their experiences, gradually becoming a public repository of information that will influence all who embark on a similar path. Without content and contacts that reflect a positive experience with your company at every stage of DCJ, there is no question of a client expressing a preference or making a decision in your favor. And without a positive customer experience, there is not the slightest chance of loyalty or public support for your brand from the client. The dynamic journey of the client is to be researched as one of the main subjects. My work at the Altemeter Group only further confirmed this and highlighted how important the role this study plays in the process of digital transformation and development of target significant strategies for the company.
Together with Charlene Lee, Alan Weber, Rebecca Laieb, Susan Etlinger, and Jeremy Ouyang, we explored what the dynamic customer journey is for financial institutions, governments, biopharmaceuticals, insurance companies, automakers, fashion brands, and more. In the course of writing the previous book, I also considered the versatility of DCJ as applied to small businesses. Although the points of interaction with the consumer and sources of influence may vary depending on the industry, the dynamic customer journey, no matter what, is built in a single sequence. And, no less important, it is constantly evolving and revealing each time from a new side.
When it comes to how you see the cash flow for your company, it is the dynamic path that answers this question again and again. It helps prioritize investment in technology systems and platforms for every moment of truth. It reflects what customer experience your customers share and when that experience falls apart. It literally tells you who influences whom, where it happens, and what happens next. It opens the door to the world of actual networks for you at every stage of the decision-making process.
Inside the Circle: Embarking on a Dynamic Customer Journey
To define the dynamic customer journey and figure out how to shape it to the best advantage for your company and your customers, you must use your mind, heart, and imagination. If you follow your customer's digital trail, you will find a whole new range of opportunities for emotional engagement and a whole new reality for your business. You accept your connected customers and help them accept you. By embarking on this path, at a minimum, you will receive in return participation, a sense of significance, and, finally, new consumer relationships, which ultimately turn into traditional, quite measurable business indicators.
It's time to figure out at what point a product begins to define a particular consumer experience and what technologies help you achieve this. You are the new CEO… a customer experience leader.
Based on a simple and visual model of the dynamic customer journey, built on the example of the American Eagle clothing store, it is possible to identify and categorize the impressions of consumers that they share at any given moment of truth in various in social networks.
- Listen to how people communicate with each other, paying attention to various stimuli, messages and new information resources to find out what it is that makes them move from simple information to reflection and evaluation (Zero moment of truth).
- Learn how the customer's dynamic journey progresses through the information that comes through the feedback channels. Who do customers consider an expert? In what social environment do they interact? Who influences them? What are they looking for and finding out? What technologies and services do they use? What is the result?
- Emotionally engage customers in every moment of truth, based on their expectations and opportunities, revealing new values and resources of interconnection.
- Tailor investment streams to processes, strategies, and technologies to improve performance in steps one through three.
As you will soon see, the dynamic customer journey represents moments of truth that either bring the customer closer to you or further away from you. It is up to you to define every moment of this journey, passing through popular social networks, various technological resources, the opinions of authoritative and just different people.
To understand how the dynamic customer journey works for your business, let's take a closer look at each step.
Formulation (Incentive)
In the absence of information regarding the existence of options, there can be no speculation about choosing between them. Every interaction with a client is exposed to potential disruption both directly and indirectly. The effectiveness of your marketing strategy is the trigger that pushes the connected consumer onto a dynamic journey. Today, only the channels, techniques with which you will reach people, as well as the time for which your information will reach them, differ.
Prepurchase (zero moment of truth)
Purchases, research shows, are always driven by social influence or impulse exposure. Your company must contribute to the process of learning, sharing, and discovering product information in order to get the customer to take action.
Think about it, an incentive pushes a person to get a better understanding of the brand or the products it makes in one way or another. Zero moment of truth is a test of how visible and accessible your brand is to the buyer. An incentive launched by you or your competitors in the market reveals information about products and services. The strength of your brand; the quality of the results obtained in response to customer inquiries about you in various search engines; words people use when answering questions and sharing personal experience; even the number of responses in each network - it all determines your customer's next step and the fate of your organization in a vicious circle of decision making.
What people say and hear in Zero Moment of Truth (ZMOT) needs to be thought first and then defined. Feedback received at this point from the consumer should not be left to chance. The consumer journey is much more complex than the funnel would suggest.
You see, unlike the traditional funnel, where the number of brands is gradually reduced in the course of their research, the degree of consumer reflection is constantly increasing during the course of exposure to the brand and use of its product. The exposure of your brand to the customer is defined by nothing more than the information that people request, transmit, and receive in response. Any company focused on the perception of social opinion is able to open new opportunities in real time to attract customers.
What you say, when and how you say it shapes the impression of your company and, more importantly, the perspective of what is happening. These are the questions you need to answer here, and then at each next step.
What experiences do you think should be exchanged between your clients? How do you want them to follow up on this?
At this stage, the opinion of experts and other consumers is reflected in the impression that the client will have about you. It depends on what his next step will be. Find these people. Learn from them. Get them on your side.
Role Model: GIANTNERD
Giantnerd is a company that has built its social platform Powered by Love, which depends on consumers, their opinions, desires and needs. The company's customers receive special incentive prizes for being active in the network and helping other customers make decisions. Points can be used on future purchases.
Randall Weidberg - the head of Giantnerd - is convinced that the emotional involvement of the client helps the company not only in Zero (ZMOT), but also in the Ultimate Moment of Truth (UMOT). Most importantly, interaction social group raises general level consumer experience, brand loyalty and, as a result, its public support. “We want shared wisdom to help customers shop more meaningfully.”
Purchase (first moment of truth)
As buyers gather information from trusted sources, they move into the second stage of the Zeroth Moment of Truth and also experience the First Moment of Truth. They are likely to do the latest research and ask the last questions before moving on to buying the product. This is where your product needs to stand out in all its glory to dispel the buyer's final doubts. And again, remember that the client's next step is influenced by the results of his search, which come through communication with people and even through technology.
When it comes to retail, this is when a customer can take their mobile device out of their pocket to compare product prices, scan a barcode, look at a location-based app, read reviews, take photos, and share them on social media for more detailed information. The consumer will seek the best advice and strive for the best deal - and refuse to buy if you do not interest him at the right time.
Your customers always pay attention to the packaging of the product, as well as the opinions of experts and other buyers. The first moment of truth always wins. This is reminiscent of the so-called Amazon effect, where shoppers compare prices and customer experience through mobile devices connections. Like many retailers, Best Buy and Target faces this effect all the time, as customers, of course, want to know how in-store prices compare to online prices. It has long been not only technology that needs to be transformed. Outdated company policies and outdated processes are in dire need of updating. When a customer asks if the price in the store can be reduced to the price on the Internet, the answer is usually no. Perhaps it is time to rethink this, and many other approaches to the company's activities and technological capabilities, to ensure that the customer is involved in the buying process in real time.
The more measured and softer you are in dealing with the case, the easier it will be for the client to continue his dynamic journey - to the Second Moment of Truth. It's not even about reducing friction between information and commercial channels. It's about meeting the subtle needs and expectations of your interconnected customers within the networks and lines of communication they choose to rely on. Without a doubt, we are increasingly turning into a digital society of multitasking and multi-screen.
And so it's time for you to start investing in omnichannel development strategies that are fully in line with common interests and behaviors. And keep in mind: without the necessary research, this will result in an empty appeal to new technologies - just because they are fashionable.
The diagram below shows how different age groups use technology to make purchases. By simply recognizing the existence of people using mobile devices to purchase goods and services, you can develop a targeted mobile commerce strategy while continuing to invest in traditional and desktop/laptop-centric versions. Investing in technology and marketing strategies based on customer interests and behavioral patterns requires businesses to shift their focus from demographics to a level of psychological differentiation and focus.
As you can see, the number of millennials using Cell phones to shop has reached an already astounding 50 percent, while 79 percent continue to shop using tablets and 89 percent simply prefer online shopping. There is nothing new in this. The reality is that the number of people who prefer smaller and smaller screens that require special approach, increases.
If you compare the numbers above with the general behavioral trend of Generation C, you will realize that your marketing strategy is missing out on a huge opportunity associated with smartphones and tablets. It's about more than building an app for your company. We are talking about a distributable and at the same time integrated consumer experience, where communication and information exchange become the engine of commerce.
The Post-Purchase, or Second Moment of Truth, is important because it reinforces the impression of you and brings the customer to the End Moment of Truth, the experience that buyers share with others in an influence loop.
If you think customer experience is outside of your area of responsibility, think again.
In an age of post-commercial relationships where everyone is connected to each other through the exchange of customer experiences within a dynamic customer journey, your product and services are part of your marketing strategy just like everything else. The experience you create for clients in the Second Moment of Truth is key. If you don't define what you think customers should feel, think, absorb, and do, someone else will.
The desire to improve the consumer experience requires you to understand how to improve your product. Even the almighty Apple monitors customer reviews and experiences to improve its products and services. This, as they have long realized, allows them not only to raise the emotions of the client to a new level, but also to give the consumer experience the highest rank.
Post-purchase (final moment of truth)
The most interesting aspects of the dynamic customer journey - either the most beneficial or the most detrimental to your business - lie in the Ultimate Moment of Truth. The consumer experience is distributed to other people through the same communication channels that originally influenced the purchase decision. Therefore, we are dealing with part of the loop of influence that turns into the Final Moment of Truth.
Consumers share their experience of using a product - good or bad - throughout its history. Such exchanges will influence future decision making (ZMOT) by other buyers.
The experience gained by a person after purchasing a product, or post-purchase experience, leaves its mark on building customer relationships. High-quality goods and services determine the expression of brand loyalty. Loyalty, commitment leads, in turn, to the manifestation of public support. Underestimating the opinions of consumers is evidence of your real attitude towards them. You reap what you sow. Sharing experiences - good or bad - is what you have earned or deserved. Every day, an increasing number of connected customers are turning to social media to seek support or to express their emotions about using a particular product or communicating with a particular company. Some consumers are trying so hard to find answers to their questions from the same consumers, others leave comments to pour out their hearts. small part The customer is hoping to get a response directly from the company.
The reality is that social media is the new normal of today. The host of social media, whether you use it or not, is now forming part of the mainstream digital lifestyle, with Facebook, Twitter, Yelp, and YouTube, among other things, becoming platforms where customers can connect, connect, and share experiences. They are not only attached to these social networks, they can actually live in them. Only one question remains open: what are you going to do about it?
By entering the End Moment of Truth, consumers determine the next steps or Zero Moment of Truth for other buyers - simply by doing their part in the influence loop. The importance of defining customer experience is just the beginning of a long journey. It is an initial investment in proactively maintaining an ecosystem of desired customer experiences. An experience that not only influences but also reinforces the emotions that you think people should receive and share afterwards.
Companies will learn to participate in new networks in two ways. Either they recognize the opportunity to make their own value to the customer in the moment of insight, or they will ooh and aah about the impact of the crisis on business, brands, and consumer influence when the negative experience becomes devastating.
The graphic above is a word cloud compiled from tweets from various customers sharing their experiences with @United (United Airlines). I removed the figurative language, since our book is not about this air carrier, but about how experience is exchanged between customers and how it affects the opinions and decisions of other people. It is also a clear example of the need to study how companies shape and respond to consumer experiences in the midst of the digital revolution.
Words highlighted against a general background and reflecting an important area to which in the next few years should be riveted Special attention, customer service. If you look further, you will see two other words in close proximity to customer service. It is these two words that reflect what is most important for the consumer today - reaction and change.
In a study published by Maritz Research and evolve24 in 2011, about 1,300 consumers answered a question about the relationship between Twitter and customer service. As the age of respondents increased, so did the percentage of expectations that companies would read and respond to their messages.
Let's say you're a connected consumer who's filing a complaint on Twitter and waiting for a response that might solve their problem and keep you a customer, but frustrated, no response. This is what the survey participants experienced most often. More than 70 percent of respondents say they never got a response from a company to their tweet. And this creates a real problem if the company is actually registered with Twitter. That is, customers are shown: their opinion is not important for the company, the company is present on the social network only for the sake of marketing and sales - not at all in order to support consumers. By not responding to customer problems, you are actually saying how much you appreciate them.
But providing a solution to the problem is only part of the task. Engagement is defined as the interaction between a company and a consumer, but what matters is how it is measured.
Customer support plays an important role. However, the consumer experience is replacing it. You see, if you don't invest in creating a positive customer experience, people will be constantly asking questions that you didn't anticipate.
For a moment, let's turn to retail clothes. Conversocial studied how the customer services of ten of the largest American fashion brands respond to complaints posted on Twitter. It turned out that 50 percent of those who complained did not wait for a response from the companies. And this despite the fact that 48 percent of all complaints were direct appeals to the company, and only 9 percent were negative comments that did not need a response. We are already missing out on the opportunity to fix, improve, and create an extraordinary customer experience.
However, it's not just about online engagement. Brand loyalty, and ultimately public endorsement, is determined by how customers experience the Second Moment of Truth and how those emotions and experiences are expressed in the Ultimate Moment of Truth. With connected customers, traditional loyalty and reward programs no longer work. These strategies need to be fundamentally overhauled in order to create a continuous positive experience for the person and the belief that the company values him as a customer. A lot of interconnected consumers - wait, a lot of consumers in general - feel that their value to the company ends exactly the moment they pay for the product. Research into the Dynamic Customer Journey has shown that no one admires your product or service just because it's bought. Customers will once again go through their dynamic journey to test, test and evaluate what you have to offer.
Again, the key here is direct interaction. The gap is not only open to your company, it is also open to your competitors looking to poach customers. Following up on the next steps of the client will determine whether the client will leave your company, become a active supporter or, which is very bad, will tell the world his negative experience, which will influence the decision of other consumers who are in the influence loop.
Role Model: GIFFGAFFTo drive customer engagement and drive business through it, the company launched an Idea Board on its website, echoing Dell's Idea Storm or Starbucks' My Idea. To date, Giffgaff has not only received over 6,000 ideas and over 50,000 comments. On average, every three days the company brings the ideas of its customers to life.
Imagine… a positive customer experience is turning into a competitive advantage in today's era of unfortunately poor customer engagement and customer service.
One final note: transformation is never easy or painless, but if it were, a positive customer experience would indeed become a commodity. The time has come when the client can work for you, not against you. And, as the current practice of daily communication in social networks shows, without a thoughtful approach and the involvement of the company itself, every tweet, every update, every post, video or interactive communication will work against you. Relationships with the client require careful building, not just response or management. That is why your participation in the process means more today than ever.
Comprehensive user experience is a real discovery for many companies. After all, if you improve products / processes purely “for show”, how to make sure that they will be convenient to use for customers? This is a common reason why target customers leave already for early stages sales funnels.
With the Customer Journey approach, we see what stages a potential consumer goes through when interacting with a company. This technique allows not only not to lose customers, but also to increase the conversion in each next step. Read this article on how to use it for different types of business.
Who is this for?
The Customer Journey technique is suitable for all cases where the purchase decision is delayed in time. These are most often IT and information products. Users, before paying for them, consider, study, weigh the pros and cons. SaaS solutions can even be tested - as a rule, they have a free trial period.
Also, understanding the consumer journey is useful for online stores and B2C products / services that users are looking for on the Internet (purchase of household appliances, installation of stretch ceilings, paid legal consultations).
Goods and services with a "super hot" demand do not fit here - a tow truck, ordering pizza, urgent printing of business cards, etc., since the decision is made momentarily there.
The essence of the technique
- How does the target audience get in touch with you;
- What stages do users go through before making a purchase;
- What emotions are experienced;
- Where do barriers appear?
- How successfully they move from stage to stage.
The ultimate goal is to find ways to improve user experience in particular and business processes in general.
Ideally, all touchpoints work in concert on a “pull-push” principle: any touchpoint “pushes” the consumer to the next step, and the next one “pulls” from the previous one.
At the end, you get a "road map" that shows how to engage and bring the user to purchase from the moment of the first touch.
Step 1: Compiling Custom Scripts
The consumer chain of an IT product will look something like this:
For an info product, the chain is as follows:
When buying goods / services B2C, the user goes through four main stages:
The process of ordering a product from an online store:
Think about how to activate the user at different stages, what to offer him in order to bring him closer to the next stage and, ultimately, to the conversion. Free trial period for SaaS products and other types work well.
This is a valuable offer at a nominal cost or free of charge, which will stir up interest in basic goods. For example, free samples of cosmetics, electronic book or participate in a webinar at half price, cheap related products, etc.
In these diagrams, we have shown only the most basic stages. You can build more detailed diagrams if you include all the intermediate steps down to which button to press. And for email newsletters, plan trigger chains of letters depending on the user's actions (opened / did not open the letter; clicked / did not follow the link from the letter).
Here is an example for an online store from the CarrotQuest service:
Develop a KPI system for each touchpoint to measure the effectiveness of business processes.
Step 2. Analysis and identification of barriers
The impression about the product is made up of what the user receives at all stages of interaction. When the visitor sees the first desired results, he has an insight “this is what I need!” These are the so-called aha moments, which increase the likelihood of conversion to a client.
For example, when a user enters the YAGLA service, he writes the values of the replaced elements and, using the preview function, sees how they look on his site.
An example for an online store is adding a product to the cart. The user finds what he likes in the assortment, and is likely to pay for the order soon.
At the same time, if something goes wrong, it can have the opposite effect. Even one “weak link” can spoil the whole picture: a broken link, incorrect contact details on the page, a problem with checkout, etc.
Barriers are obstacles that prevent the consumer from taking the next step. To identify them, follow these steps:
- Calculate the click-through conversion for each stage to know what percentage of consumers reached the next point;
- Identify barriers at points of contact. If 90% of users go from the first step to the second, and 5% from the second to the third, then something went wrong in the second case. For example, a user is faced with too confusing checkout in an online store.
You can evaluate the effect of lowering the barrier. For example, as a result, the conversion increased by 15%, calculate how much money these 15% brought to the company. The return on investment (ROI) can also be calculated from data on the cost of lowering the barrier.
Step 3. Mapping (Customer Journey Map)
In a rendered view, a Customer Journey is a graph or chart (Customer Journey Map, or CJM for short). It displays the points of contact and detailed information about each.
The main advantage of the consumer journey map is its objectivity, since the creation uses analytics of real events and only proven hypotheses.
Benefits of the Approach
- Increasing consumer conversion. The fewer barriers along the way, the more consumers reach their goals. And therefore, bring more profit;
- Increasing consumer loyalty. More visitors become customers;
- Rational use budget;
- Timely quality improvement. It is clear how to evaluate the points of contact, their strengths and weaknesses, and where they need to be improved.
In the Customer Journey concept, the consumer is at the center of attention. The more you know about it and its behavior, the more likely you are to find the right approach to it and create the perfect product.
P.S. The concept of Customer Journey is the basis of a digital strategy, which we will discuss in the next article.
High conversions for you!
Customer journey, one of the most useful tools for a product manager. Why is it important to know how your product participates in the user's life and what insights can be gained from this? Let's talk.
Context is something that is usually not enough to understand certain issues. Imagine this situation: a colleague or friend comes to you and says that you need to make a decision about the vacation for him. Simply, he is waiting for you to answer “Go” or “Do not go” on vacation at the weekend. What would you advise him?
Most likely you would need to ask him a little about the details of the situation. Why is he considering this decision, what is his situation at home or at work, can he reschedule his vacation, and so on. That is, you need to understand the context of the situation. That way you can give more helpful advice.
The same applies to users. Understanding the context of the situation in which your product is being used opens up a lot of room for growth.
Let's first understand what a customer journey is.
Customer journey: this
Customer journey is a visualization of the history of user interaction with your product. Full description context and motives of a particular customer segment, taking into account all advertising channels.
“Sales funnel,” you say, but the customer journey is something more. These are the situations and lifestyles of your users. Their habits and characteristics, their preferences and tasks. Your product is part of it all. The more detailed you describe the picture, the more valuable knowledge you will receive and the better decisions you will be able to make.
Such “pictures” are called user maps or customer journey maps.
What is the benefit of the customer journey
“Well, at least it’s beautiful” and it really is. Visualization of the full user path allows you to take a broader look at the product and the context in which it is located. Thanks to this, we can:
- Create a continuous user experience with the product.
- Solve user problems more efficiently.
- Reduce barriers to product use.
- Increase the loyalty of your audience.
- Get insights for development.
Classic customer journey
Usually, in the classical understanding of the user's path, several stages are distinguished.
It all starts with the fact that the user does not know anything about your product. Then he learns about it, begins to dive deeper, studies more and more information. It is signed if there is such an opportunity and is activated, that is, it is used for the first time. Then the product is used more and more and eventually, the user becomes its “advocate”. Recommends to friends and advocates for negative reviews other users.
It would seem simple and clear, but in life everything is a little different. There is no such straight-line movement from stage to stage. The customer journey is diverse and chaotic. There may be fewer stages, some of them are combined, etc.
I propose to analyze how to build a customer journey map for your product.
Forgive me for interrupting my reading. Join my telegram channel. Fresh announcements of articles, development of digital products and growth hack, everything is there. Waiting for you! We continue ...
DIY customer journey map
1. Person
It all starts with people. Select a specific segment of users (as a rule, this is the target audience) and try to build a persona, that is, describe as clearly as possible a person close to the selected segment.
As a rule, this is a fictional character who has characteristics as close as possible to the selected segment (social demographic: gender, age, financial situation, habits, etc.).
Above is an example of a persona card that was created in the Xtensio product. This tool allows you to create similar user maps based on templates. There is free access to 1 card that you can create. You can create one persona, upload it as an image, and then create a new one, for example.
Such cards allow you to well represent your user and his habits. Further, on the basis of this card, a customer journey map is compiled.
2. Research and points of contact
Once you've prepared the persona, move on to points of contact and exploration. For online products, you can use analytics to see where exactly the user came from. On what request, from what sources.
For offline products, it is best to use surveys and interviews. You ask people how they find out about your product.
In the interview, ask questions about how the user solved their task/problem. Let him tell you how he did it the last time. Material with recommendations, exactly how it was previously published in the blog.
Personally, I am a proponent of mixed approaches (especially for online products). You explore analytics data, then interview real users and pin the data.
The customer journey map is compiled based on all the collected data. The task is to describe the entire user journey in as much detail as possible.
For example, as a result of research, you found that your user attended a conference where someone mentioned your mobile application. After that, a couple of days later he googled you in a search engine, and a week later he installed the application on his phone. All this data will be needed to design the map.
The more data you collect about your target audience, the better. Now let's move on to designing the map.
3. Designing or creating a map
After the personas have been identified and the contact point data has been collected, our task is to create the customer journey map itself.
Usually, a team takes part in the design of the map, which includes: an analyst, a designer (ux / ui), a marketer, a product manager.
For design use:
- Markers and stickers (usually starts with this)
- Special software: uxpressia.com (one card for free), realtimeboard.com (3 cards for free), Google Spreadsheets (quite a solution, completely free). The software is used to finalize and design the card.
Start designing with stages (we discussed them above). Break the customer journey map into columns, where the column is one of the stages (not knowledge, recognition, etc.). It is not necessary to use all the steps we discussed earlier. Depending on your product, the number of stages may vary, as we said earlier. The same goes for stage names.
I will create a map on simple tables. Typically, these tables are marked on the walls, dipchart or magnetic boards. For example, I suggest taking a subscription to a fitness club.
For a fitness club, I identified 4 main stages of the customer journey.
All team members get together and begin to ground all the data received from the research, focusing on the stage. The first line after the stages are the tasks or goals of the user. Pull these tasks out of the research you've done and map them.
Then arrange data about the channels through which the user comes to each of the stages.
We then describe the process. In ordinary human language, we tell the user's situation for each stage.
Then, using brainstorming, you try to determine how the user feels at each stage of the interaction. If, as a result of the study, you managed to fix these feelings with quotes, then you are very lucky. Take them and put them on the map.
Try to write in human language. If at the “Not knowing” stage the user has doubts, then write like this (in the first person): “I don’t know if I need to go to fitness at all?”. It’s impossible to make one long table, so I’ll start a new one (this is a continuation down from the previous one)
For clarity, as well as with processes / channels, you can visualize the user's feelings, his experience.
Brainstorming continues and you do sweep over the barriers that the user may encounter on different stages ways and solutions/ideas that will help overcome these barriers.
The working version of the map is ready.
Usually such a version is given to designers to create a more colorful and understandable look. Such a map can be actively used in the company and distributed to various departments within.
But, creating “beauty”, this is not an obligatory matter. For me, there is nothing better than cloud / flexible solutions, when you can quickly update your map just by clicking on the link (this can be done in the tools that we discussed above).
4. Implementation and testing of solutions
Solutions that were born as a result of creating a customer journey map need to be applied and tested. Remember that you have not been storming with the team for fun all this time.
Prioritize the solutions you come up with. Evaluate the implementation and take it to work. Test and move on to the next one.
note
To make your customer journey “just right”, consider the following recommendations:
- Use a specific user segment. “For all users” the map is not compiled.
- Data on channels, points of contact and other things are taken from analytics systems, research and surveys. It makes no sense to fill out the map with your expert opinion (we read - guesswork).
- Reflect the stages of the customer journey in more detail. If, for example, before visiting your site, the user has a need to learn more about your product, then a column (stage) called “the emergence of interest” should appear on the map.
- The map is built primarily on the basis of user experience, not your internal business processes. You don't need to be immediately attached to user interaction within your company/project. You will have time to do this when you understand exactly how your client solves his problem and where the product is in all this.
Conclusion
As we found out, the customer journey is a very useful thing that you can and should use in your projects. Visualization of the entire customer journey will allow you to get a bunch of insights and develop your product to unprecedented heights. Collect the experience of your users, put everything on the map and come up with new solutions. The journey begins!
