Why You Need to Care About Customer Journey Mapping
- Customers make contact with your business an average of 13 times before buying
- The number of digital touchpoints is increasing by 20% every year
- The most successful brands offer customers the best digital experience
Knowledge is power, especially in these days of customer-driven digital transformation. The more you know about your customers, the better your chances of exceeding their expectations. And that’s where customer journey mapping comes in.
There’s no denying that the proliferation of customer engagement channels has complicated the issue. And if your communication channels operate in siloes (or you’re encumbered by disparate legacy systems) then the problem is compounded. But – as the 3 compelling statistics above clearly demonstrate – it has never been more important to map the customer journey.
See your business through your customers’ eyes
So, what is journey mapping?
Put simply, it’s a visual representation of every interaction your customer has with your business – from first contact to purchase and beyond – and across every communication channel.
Journey mapping gives you the power to see your business the way your customers (and potential customers) perceive it. The purpose of mapping is to give you a detailed understanding of the customer journey – using this knowledge to optimise the overall experience over time.
Understand the pre-acquisition stage of the journey…
It’s possible to use your journey mapping to develop your understanding of the pre-acquisition stage of the sales process.
Imagine, for example, that you’re a bank and a potential customer is showing interest on a price comparison site. Mapping this stage of the journey gives you the opportunity to monitor and analyse where customers are dropping out. As a result, you’re able to fine-tune your communications, such as by pushing out retargeting campaigns to encourage further engagement.
…but stay focused on the entire customer lifecycle
However, don’t be tempted to throw all your resources into new customers. Remember, obtaining a new customer can cost 7 times as much as retaining an existing one. And it’s those customers who are loyal to your brand who will add the most value over the long term.
In other words, it’s crucial to focus on the entire customer lifecycle. Obtaining an overview of the journey will help you build long-lasting relationships with customers who use your products or services, time after time.
You’ll do this successfully when every touchpoint is monitored and managed in a central area. Remember, siloed systems mean missed opportunities for engagement – and a disjointed experience for your customer, which can be damaging to your brand.
Speak to your customers in the right way at the right time
Many businesses fail to communicate with their customers until the date that they’re due to renew their commitment to your services. Yet, by this point, they may well have researched your competitors and be considering a change.
With effective journey mapping, you’ll be able to predict future behaviour – communicating with your customers just why they’re best off with your product or service, impressing them with your knowledge of their situation and gaining their commitment.
When you map the customer journey, you know which communication channel a particular customer prefers – and you’re empowered with the tools and knowledge to hit them with the right message at exactly the right time, thereby prolonging the customer lifecycle.
Increase your operational efficiency
The shift in business priority from operational efficiency to customer experience highlights the importance of customer mapping. Ultimately, it gives you the power to prolong customer relationships and improve customer experience.
However, effective mapping – which equates to sophisticated handling of customer data across all your communication channels – leads to clearly-aligned processes, in turn increases operational efficiency. In other words, customer journey mapping leads to wins in areas other than customer experience.
Future-proof your business
Customers the world over are using a rapidly-increasing number of digital tools to guide their purchasing decisions. From social media to online reviews and comparison sites, digital interactions are increasing in number all the time.
And, as the younger generation obtains purchasing power, you need tools to understand how these sophisticated interactions work and connect to be able to capitalise on the opportunities they offer.
In other words, customer journey mapping is crucial if you want to get ahead of the curve – and stay ahead. Remember, it’s those companies that offer the best customer experience that are most likely to succeed.
Optimise the customer journey with the Touchpoint Tracker
No two customer journeys are the same. Our Touchpoint Tracker gives you a holistic view of customer interactions – enabling you to see the sequence in which interactions take place. In other words, it helps you visualise customer journeys and analyse which key touchpoints across different channels are working most effectively.
From there, you’re able to optimise your communications programme to boost customer value, drive operational efficiency and improve overall customer satisfaction.
Customers are driving digital transformation. Give them the online experience they’re looking for with effective customer journey mapping.
