August 17, 2017
Customer journey maps traditionally seek to diagram all of the potential points of contact between a potential customer and the business. From the customer’s first moment of interest to the final sale, customer journey maps will illustrate the entirety of the customer experience. Yet, within that definition there are alternate ways to map the customer journey that have different parameters and ultimately different goals.
Each customer journey map type will reveal different information about your procedures and your customers. By understanding which map serves which purpose, you can more effectively wield these tools to improve your customer experience.
Types of Customer Journey Maps
Customer Experience Journey Map
The first customer journey map type is likely the one you are most familiar with. Its primary goal is mapping the customer journey in its entirety. From start to finish, online, over-the-phone, and in-person, every element of the customer experience should be represented on the final map. All of this information assembled in one place will no doubt be a massive web of interconnected experiences, but it provides an opportunity.
With everything laid out before you, you can take in a bird’s eye view of what shopping with your company actually entails. Then, by cross referencing the points on the map with call recordings, sales figures, and contact center analytics, you can identify the areas of the map that create problems. Perhaps a process takes too long, or certain information isn’t easily accessible to the consumer. Whatever the problem is, you can then take steps to rearrange the customer journey to be a more productive, efficient, and pleasant experience.
User Experience (UX) Focused Map
A User Experience Focused Map will serve the same purpose as the general customer experience map but with a more narrow scope. Instead of mapping the customer journey in its entirety with the company, a User Experience Focused Map is instead concerned with a customer’s experience with a website or mobile application. It uses refined testing techniques like click testing, usability testing, and more to document how a user inexperienced with your website or app will fare when trying to navigate it for the first time. These tests serve to illustrate how intuitive and user-friendly your website or applications actually are.
While much like the Customer Experience Journey Map, a User Experience Focused Map will provide you a bird’s eye view and an opportunity to correct shortcomings. However, when working with technology in this way, it can also be used to prepare your contact center to provide better customer service.
In a recent case study, Mindsight provided contact center consultative services for an application rollout. We identified points of failure in the mobile app to anticipate what aspects are going to give the audience trouble. With those issues in mind, we designed call scripts and knowledge based reference articles for the contact center. These proved invaluable to the contact center team when customers inevitably called in for assistance with those issues.
Read the whole case study here.
Marketing Automation and Sales Journey Map
This final type of customer experience map is specifically focused on how the customer moves through the sales and marketing process. What emails are they receiving? Are they working with our inside or outside sales teams? Do they follow us on social media? These are the kinds of questions asked and answered during map creation.
The goal of this map is straight forward. We want to optimize the marketing process to put sales in the best possible position to close a deal. Like all other maps, the Marketing Automation and Sales Journey Map is best used to refine the relevant processes for efficiency and effectiveness.
The Right Map for the Right Purpose
As you can see, there are different customer journey maps for different purposes. The standard Customer Experience Journey Map will be your foundation. Build that map, and then from there you can drill down into different areas of the experience and draw upon these alternate map options. The key is to avoid using your Customer Experience Journey Map as an all-purpose diagram. Use the right map for the right purpose.
Like what you read?
About Mindsight
Mindsight, a Chicago IT services provider, is an extension of your team. Our culture is built on transparency and trust, and our team is made up of extraordinary people – the kinds of people you would hire. We have one of the largest expert-level engineering teams delivering the full spectrum of IT services and solutions, from cloud to infrastructure, collaboration to contact center. Our highly-certified engineers and process-oriented excellence have certainly been key to our success. But what really sets us apart is our straightforward and honest approach to every conversation, whether it is for an emerging business or global enterprise. Our customers rely on our thought leadership, responsiveness, and dedication to solving their toughest technology challenges.
Contact us at GoMindsight.com.
For Further Reading