Most companies have gotten the message that customer
experience matters these days. As more organizations are focusing on the
customer, they’re looking at how to improve customer satisfaction scores, but
it’s not enough to improve call center performance or website usability. Today,
we live in a multichannel world where channel-surfing customers hit all sorts
of touchpoints before completing their task - it’s a journey.
Being successful at one touchpoint is good, but it doesn’t
matter if you haven’t created a journey. In fact, 56 percent of all customer
interactions happen across a multichannel journey. A good customer journey map can be very powerful
for your business, but can also become a huge project that sucks the life out
of the team. According to Business2Community,
here are some of the ways you can tackle learning about the terrain your
customers go through just to buy your products.
Get Everyone Involved
Customer journey maps should identify each interaction a
customer may have with your organization – meaning understanding what the
players within the organization are doing is critical. Asking stake holders to
participate and share what they think happens in the journey and what
interactions are supposed to happen can enlighten even the most connected
participant. The mapping process can be
low tech or high-tech. If it’s your first trip to the Customer Journey Mapping
rodeo, try keeping it simple because you can always add to it.
Invite Customers to
Join
Once you have a basic understanding of the customer journey,
ask customers to come help you with their perspective. The types of customers
and business can have a big impact on which customers you invite into this
process and how many, but even one can give you some insight. Invite them in to
comment on the journey as you’ve mapped it, and invite them to tell you about
their own journey. Customers can provide lots of insight, but don’t bribe
customers because they won’t give you honest feedback.
Check Your Data
Most organizations are rich with data these days. Big data
is the buzz word of the moment, but little data works, too. Use your customer
feedback surveys, your website analytics, your customer service reports, to
inform the nuances of the journey. Look for patterns and work backwards to
determine where the journey breaks down. “Talk to the hand!” Most unhappy customers
leave without providing feedback.
Listen to What They are
NOT Saying
Many customers don’t tell you directly that they are unhappy.
They go to the online forums, social media communities and blogs, so be sure to
keep searching to see what they’re really saying.
Amanda Ciccatelli,
Social Media Strategist at IIR USA, has a background in digital and print
journalism, covering a variety of topics in business strategy, marketing, and
technology. She previously worked at Technology Marketing Corporation as a Web
Editor where she covered breaking news and feature stories in the tech
industry. She can be reached at aciccatelli@iirusa.com. Follow her
at @AmandaCicc.
No comments:
Post a Comment