People demand personalised, frictionless experiences across all channels, with 73% of customers now expecting companies to understand their unique needs and expectations. Therefore, it’s no surprise that, when we look at the 2024 tech trends impacting customer experience (CX), there’s a common denominator – the drive towards enabling journey centricity.
In a recent webinar, I talked about journey centricity with Joana de Quintanilha, VP – Principal Analyst at Forrester. In this article, I summarise the key takeaways from our discussion.
What is journey centricity?
Journey centricity is about orienting your CX approach around customer journeys. We all know that these journeys aren’t linear – and that they’re increasingly complex. When you consider the number of touchpoints, from customer service to marketing, there are millions of permutations. Add in the growing number of channels, and it becomes a minefield.
A journey-centric approach to CX involves seeing the full picture of customer interactions across those channels and touchpoints. With that visibility, you can identify, prioritise and map the most important journeys, leveraging orchestration and automation to remove friction and support people towards their goals.
As a result, the organisation enhances customer satisfaction and loyalty, ultimately driving revenue. Moreover, journey centricity fosters a culture of continuous improvement, enabling you to adapt quickly to changing customer preferences and market dynamics.
Why is journey centricity important now?
1. Competitive landscape
In a crowded marketplace, differentiation often comes from the quality of the CX. By prioritising journey centricity, businesses can carve out a competitive advantage and position themselves as leaders in their industries.
2. Tech advances
Rapid advancements in AI and predictive analytics offer unprecedented opportunities to enhance CX. Leveraging these technologies enables businesses to automate processes, deliver hyper-personalised experiences, and drive operational efficiencies.
Importantly, with the increasing use of generative AI, a journey-centric approach also helps you deploy these technologies in the best possible way – so they have the greatest positive impact on CX and profitability.
3. Demand for actionable data
By harnessing the power of journey-related data in a digestible format, at scale, businesses can gain valuable insights into customer behaviour, preferences and pain points.
Where are people dropping off? Where are we missing opportunities to communicate? Could we improve metrics by choosing a different channel at this point?
Insights like these shift the dial on crucial CX metrics – and they come from taking a journey-centric approach.
How CX teams can evolve to be journey-centric
Transitioning to a journey-centric model requires a fundamental shift in culture, processes and mindset. This shift should be continuous and consistently reinforced.
CX teams must move beyond traditional silos and adopt a cross-functional, collaborative approach. This entails breaking down organisational barriers and fostering open data sharing between departments. Additionally, investing in advanced analytics and automation tools empowers CX teams to uncover unseen journeys, gain actionable insights and drive informed decision-making. Teams can then effectively anticipate and address customer needs at every journey stage.
Want more detail? Watch the webinar
Journey centricity is a strategic imperative for organisations looking to thrive in today’s experience-driven economy. By prioritising seamless, personalised experiences throughout customer journeys, you drive meaningful connections, foster loyalty and drive sustainable growth.
For more insights on how to implement a journey-centric approach to CX in your organisation, watch our on-demand webinar in partnership with Forrester.
