Customer Journey and Customer Journey Maps in 900 characters

Are you interested in the word delight once you hear it? In the field of customer experience, this word is used to refer to creating a positive emotional reaction by exceeding customer expectations. 

According to a survey conducted by "HubSpot Academy", 80% of companies think they offer a superior customer experience, while only 8% of customers said they had a superior customer experience. 

This big difference is since companies are not in tune with the customer experience. For this reason, the blog content is intended to help companies delight their customers and for this it is necessary to understand the Customer Journey Map and its components. Let's start with the basics: 

Index 

• What is a Customer Journey? 
• What is a Customer Journey Map?
• What are the components of a Customer Journey Map? 

What is a Customer Journey?  

The Customer Journey is a story about how to understand users. It is the process of understanding the customer from the moment he identifies a need until he acquires a product or service to solve said need. It is also a key component of an inbound marketing strategy. 

What is a Customer Journey Map?  

The Customer Journey Map is the graphical representation of the Customer Journey. It is a tool to analyze customer behavior. It helps the organization understand how customers travel through the entire sales process and how they felt in the time they spent there. 

The Customer Journey Map uses two powerful instruments, the first is the narrative (Storytelling) and the second the visualization. These instruments are effective mechanisms for conveying information in a way that is memorable, concise, and creates a shared vision across the company. 

What are the components of a Customer Journey Map? 

Although the Customer Journey Map can take several forms, generally the following 5 components are included: 

Point of view: You must choose the "actor" of the story, this character is often called in the Inbound marketing methodology as Buyer Persona. When doing this type of exercise, it is necessary to consider that the story is told from a single point of view, that is, that there is only one "actor". 

Scenario: The specific experience to map must be determined. This can be from an existing Journey, where the mapping will reveal both positive and negative moments in the current experience. Or you can map an experience for a product or service that doesn't exist yet.  

The goal of the user must be clear throughout the experience and it is also said that these maps have better scenarios in customer experiences that have sequential activities. 

Actions, emotions and mentality: At the bottom of the narrative of a Customer Journey Map is the inquiry into what the customer is doing, what they are thinking and what the customer is feeling throughout the entire experience. This information must be supplied from qualitative research such as: field studies, contextual research and daily studies. How specific it is, depends on the purpose of each map. 

Touchpoints and channels: The contact points (Touchpoints) are the moments that the “actor” or the Buyer Persona interacts with the company and the channels (Channels) are defined as the communication methods or the delivery of the service. An example of these channels can be the company's website or physical store. Both touchpoints and channels must be aligned with the goals and actions of the end users. 

Perceptions and take actions: The point of using a Customer Journey Map is to identify the gaps in the user experience (Insights) and once identified, take actions to optimize said experience (Ownership). Any Insight that comes out of the mapping must be explicitly listed.  

If possible, assign responsibility to different parts of the Customer Journey Map. In this way it is clear which person oversees which aspect of the Customer Journey. 

Even so, if the 5 components just described were included in a Customer Journey Map, two maps can look completely different and still be perfectly suited to function in the context they were designed for. 

To make better decisions when designing your Customer Journey Map, consider the following: 

• What level of detail is needed to fully tell the story? 

• What elements (devices, channels and / or physical content) are necessary to provide the most adequate narrative? 
• Is the purpose of the map to diagnose a current experience or to design a completely new experience? 
• What is the balance between external actions (by the client) and internal actions (by the organization)? 
• Who is going to use this Customer Journey Map? 

In conclusion, mapping the Customer Journey is key to understanding the customer's perspective. Action must be taken with these Insights in order to optimize the customer experience. These mappings can look completely different depending on the context in which they will be used. For this reason, it is important to consider its basic components and ask key questions to achieve the best possible mapping of the Customer Journey.