"Put the customer at the center." Most of us have probably heard that countless times. And of course, it means that we should start from the customer’s experience and needs - rather than starting with ourselves.
Perhaps you and your organisation are already on board with that idea. So far, so good. But do you truly know your customer journey in depth? Do you have a clear overview of every point where you and your customers interact before a purchase happens? And do you know which of those points matter the most?
This is not about being able to say, "our customers come from the website." The customer journey is far more comprehensive than that. It is well worth mapping it from A to Z so you understand every single touchpoint.
The real challenge is using it actively in your work. Otherwise, it is easy to fall into the classic trap where the analysis ends up sitting in a desk drawer - and where a lack of proper data governance makes it difficult to turn insights into action.
It is the trap where detailed reports about customers and their journeys are created. You invest time and effort to truly understand the situation. But then nothing really happens.
The extensive work and in-depth report never become connected to the organisation. The new knowledge is not embedded in the teams that manage the customer journey daily.
This is the work we call customer experience thinking.
See the customer journey as a working tool
Customer experience thinking is not something you simply add to a to-do list, work on for a few days, and then check off. On the contrary, it is a mindset that every business should work with daily.
Once you have mapped your customer journey, you have a working tool that should be integrated into your organization. It should live with all employees for who it is relevant. This ensures that everyone keeps the customer journey in mind and continuously adapts their work accordingly.
Identify the most important key moments
A workshop is often a good way to map the customer journey. The goal is to outline everything that happens - or could happen - from the first touchpoint with the customer until a purchase takes place.
When you have the full customer journey laid out in front of you, the next step is to identify the critical moments along the journey. We can call these key moments. Which key moments are crucial in your specific customer journey? These are the ones you should focus on first.
Now it is time to prioritise. Which key moments are already working well, and which ones could be improved to guide more customers all the way through the journey?
The reality is that we usually can’t improve everything at once - at least not right now. So, we must choose. Focus on the moments where the volume is high, where customers experience frustration or objections, or where many drop off.
Optimize your customer journey one key moment at a time
At this point, you should have a prioritised list of key moments in front of you. And you can probably guess what comes next.
You address the initiatives one by one. Analyse them, optimise them, and then move on to the next key moment.
Working with customer journeys is not a one-off project. Once you start using it actively, it becomes part of how you run and develop your business daily.