2014 Year of Customer Journey Mapping

Most businesses do not measure customer journey maps. Recently I was talking with senior operation team member of one of the large Mutual Funds. He was explaining to me how they have pioneered in SMS based investing. 

I just asked ;

Whether investors need this kind of service? - (R) Dont know. 

How many investors use mobile as a investment making instrument?  (R) 1%

By doing this new innovation how much more investors would use mobile? (R)  1 to 2% more

After some dialogue I asked whether do you map customer journeys? He looked at me like as if he is asking me what is that ? and responded NO. 

This is the biggest problem with every organisation. They are investing so much in technology where it is going to impact 2% of the customer base but have no clue about what really customer needs , what customer are thinking and feeling while dealing with the company? No one has clue of end to end customer journeys , no one is in charge of end to end customer experience. 

Companies spend millions of dollars for BPR & IT  projects but have no clue of customer service designs & customer experience they are creating. 

I think it is a high time to REALLY focus on customers. Customer Focus must come out from mission statement & mere vocabulary to life. 

Let this year be declared as a year of Customer Journey Mapping. It will end with huge customer insights & many eye openers. 

Defective Products Vs Defective Services

Defective Products Vs Defective Services

1. Defective Products are designed and manufacturing not as per design is called defective products
2. Defects in Defective Products are visible to sellers
3. Defective Products are sold as seconds goods
4. Defective Products are rejected by customers

1. Services are not designed & therefore defective services are not easy to identify
2. Defective Services are being seen & experienced by customers
3. Apparently Defective Services are not seen & experienced by sellers
4. Even defective services are also rejected by customers , however since it is not visible to the sellers , seller wont know the reason for customer defections & complaints
5. Unlike Products , services are dynamic & made available every time customers want it. Therefore probability defective services for un-designed services is far more than defective products which are manufactured en-mass & stored for delivery. 

Therefore it is most critical for service providers to design the service & map customer journey to know the defects in service design. Its difficult & challenging but critical.

3 Steps to REJUVENATE Customer Experience

Ok , at our business we have decided to focus on customers and create Customer Experience (CX) that gives us competitive advantage. What next ?  

1) Discover (know the present CX your enterprise offers to your customers) 

- First know your Customer's Journey Maps 

- Know the touch points along the journey

- Walk the Journey Maps to know the present experience 

- Test check Net Promoter Scorecard (NPS) 

- Have customer experience audit by analyzing critical aspects impacting CX 

  (Leadership to Channel Partners, all which incl people, process, product, expectation,

culture, branding & marketing & systems)

2) Design (redesign the CX you would like to offer to to our customer to have un-duplicable competitive edge) 

- Define CX Statement 

- Redesign the experience along the journey through various touch points 

 ( CX Statement minus Discover Stage Status ) 

- Keep human rationality , emotional aspects , senses in mind while redesigning for need, ease & delight. 

3) Deploy (implement enterprise wide redesigned CX) 

- Appoint CCxO (Chief Customer Xperience Officer) 

- Realign all critical aspects impacting CX keeping above two steps in mind

- Launch new journey maps 

- Walk the new Journey (Incl CEO)

Repeat the process !!! Yes its an ongoing process. 

These are the steps. These are the steps to create wow & awe customer experience. These are the steps to create un-duplicable customer experience.  These are the steps to create sustainable competitive advantage. These are the steps to business survival in otherwise commoditised world.