What do you do when you feel lost?
When you are lost and need to find your way, you will most likely use Google maps or a GPS. And the path you choose is up to you; whether you find the best route, the fastest, the scenic, the longest, or the busiest street, you will always have the best option.
But, we do not have a GPS or Google Maps to show us the address of our business, but we do have “Customer Experience Maps” when we feel lost in running a business. A common practice is to use a customer experience map when the path to customer needs and wants is lost or if we have to get back on track.
Furthermore, there are tons of research and experts who agree that the customer experience pays for itself. As a business manager, you must focus on profit, save on costs, and manage resources; So deciding where to start and how many resources to invest requires a cost-effective and straightforward solution.
Customer Experience Maps
Customer Experience Maps visually represent the interactions between humans and your business. It’s a tool that customer experience professionals use to help businesses like yours.
To put it into a technological context, customer maps refer to the steps that a human being takes to achieve a goal. For example, a journey map is all about the user and their actions, user stories, and use cases; In the customer experience, we add the service journey to align digital and non-digitized processes. The visual representation of customer interactions and stories will include technology, processes, people, and physical evidence.
If you want to answer these questions, how do humans use and experience technology? And how do we capture those moments or interactions? It’s simple, use a customer experience map.
A travel map will provide an overview from where you can draw a plan; It will give you and your team a “360-degree view” of the relationship with your company and the human aspect.
Two Approaches
During a journey mapping, you can make a high-level general map, including pre-sale, sale, and post-sale, or a specific one, of an individual process, such as when requesting a quote.
- Mapping the overall experience with a high-level customer journey; works well for an established business or a small program for a new business. A high-level customer journey map provides the starting point for understanding the relationship between the promised and the provided service. It is a long-term approach with rapid non-structural changes to make quick profits and add cumulative value over time.
- Individual mapping interactions are the quickest and easiest route to start at the specific level, as it provides rapid gains, buy-in, and less resistance. It works well to adapt to sudden market changes, such as a pandemic, industry disruption, or digitization.
Sumarizing
Lastly, I want you to remember two points: number one, customer journey maps are living documents that adapt, and number two, a customer experience program is a continuous improvement program, not a project.
As customers or users evolve and market conditions change. Using customer experience maps aligns with business promise, user or customer expectations, and how your employees deliver on that promise. And it will keep your business on the path to success and the hearts of your customers and collaborators.
A customer journey maps provide that emotional connection that most businesses lack. We talk about profits and losses; A customer journey tells your business about customer pains and concerns. We humanize technology and business, look beyond profit, and create meaningful and productive human connections.