Moments that matter: how customer journey mapping can help you

Adam Wilkinson, our Chief Channels and Alliances Officer, works with client organisations to find innovative solutions to improve their services. Here, he explains the process of customer journey mapping – and why stakeholder workshops can be a bit like cooking.

What is customer journey mapping?

A customer journey map is a process of defining and documenting the lived experience of someone using your services. Not just the steps they take, but the emotions they feel and what they’re interacting with at any given stage. 

Customer journey mapping is about identifying the ‘pinch points’ in the customer journey – once you’ve nailed these down, you can start to improve and innovate.A charity might map the journey of a supporter, donor or service user. Their journeys are often very different: some are very complex, others are pretty simple.

At Connect Assist, we’ve worked with charities, trade unions, local authorities and others on customer journey mapping. It’s a really useful process for any organisation looking to make positive changes.

Why is mapping a customer journey important to an organisation and its customers?

To improve services, you must understand the true, lived experiences of your customers. You need to understand the moments that matter to service users – the pinch points where if something had been different, it would have made a hugely positive impact. Then you can make the right changes.

You need a cross-section of people on board from the outset. Making them part of the solution is a really effective way of managing change once you’ve identified a pinch point and then look to innovate and implement your ideas for improvement.

Can you share an example?

One of our longest-standing customers is a membership organisation who knew their membership services and systems were letting them down. But some of their people were reluctant to change. 

We went through the process of mapping journeys, moments that matter and pinch points, and innovating around solutions. The fact that we had a cross-section of stakeholders from the top down made the changes and innovations feel like theirs, rather than things that were being done to them.

As a result, we’ve gone on a multi-year journey with that organisation to modernise their membership services.

What are the essentials of customer journey mapping?

You need to have a high level of understanding of the process as is.

To create a user journey map, service user feedback is a must. Most organisations today seek feedback along the way, documenting things like complaints, which you can review. But it never hurts to ask some recent service users if they would permit being interviewed as well.

The easy bit is mapping out the lived experience – it’s harder to map all the other things that sit around each touchpoint.A cross-section of stakeholders is critical, and it’s key that everyone comes to workshops with an open mind and a non-defensive perspective. I do understand: these are services they run on a day-to-day basis, so naturally, they’re emotionally invested. They want to avoid harming their services, and they fear jumping out of the frying pan and into the fire!

Financial considerations can inhibit change too, so you need to focus the workshops. People might come up with some big ideas around strategic change and capital investment, but also smaller ones that could be quick wins that still have a big impact. I’m a foodie, so I like to think of it as a whole dish, plus the separate ingredients!

How can Connect Assist help?

If you’re wondering how to create a customer journey map, then get in touch with our friendly team. We help facilitate the customer journey mapping process, coaching and challenging along the way. We guide organisations through a structured process that has academic rigour and a proven track record of success.

Customer journey mapping can help all sorts of organisations reshape their services for the better and serve up a much more palatable meal to their customers. Do give us a call or drop us a line if you’d like to discuss it in more depth.