suitecx ©2015, suitecx Inc. September 23, 2015 Customer Journey Mapping: Balancing customer and company needs to drive business outcomes In 2013 Harley Manning and Kerry Bodine at Forrester Research released the book Outside In: The Power of Pu3ng Customers at the Center of your Business . Turning the focus of customer experience from an internal view based in processes, resources and efficiencies to an outside view grounded in customer needs and preferences was a radical approach to business strategy. Now many companies are scrambling to catch up. While research has proven that a focus on improving customer experience directly impacts the boKom line , achieving the organizaMonal and cultural change required to become fully customer centric is not an easy process. It is criMcal to get all key departments aligned on your customer experience strategy. The most effecMve method to achieve this alignment is to conduct a Customer Journey Mapping exercise. Seeing your customer’s perspecMve at every touch point with your company is oTen a powerful moMvator for change. However, each department head who parMcipates in the exercise will bring his or her own biases and agenda to the table. They will have disMnct assumpMons about what customers are doing, thinking and feeling at any stage of the relaMonship regardless of the reality. It is all too easy to slide into complacency when it comes to relying on internal data and assumpMons to guess at the current state customer experience. However, unless you engage with your customers directly, you can never be sure whether that data is the right data or whether those assumpMons are correct. In fact, despite today’s digital focus, up to 70% of your customers’ interacMons may not even be tracked or visible to your company! The customer experience is built on all aspects of your business. Factors include : product/service quality, reliability, desirability, availability, trustability and brand reputaMon, are all which are variable factors in determining the success or failure of a given interacMon. As the customer interacts with your brand, there are needs Thought Leadership “When you’re in [a] retail locaAon, tell a fellow customer that you’re an employee—as well as a customer– and that you’d love to know if they found what they needed on that visit, and how easy or hard [it] was. Asking might feel awkward at first, and some customers might refuse. But many will welcome the opportunity to provide feedback.” Excerpt from Outside In that are not necessarily directly expressed, which can have a big impact on customers’ saMsfacMon with the outcome. For example, you could have the most responsive call center in your industry, but the customer might prefer if your product performed so well that they never had to place a call into the call center in the first place. It is criMcal that you find a balance between what you know to be internal challenges and what customers are indicaMng are their prioriMes. The only way to achieve this balance is to ask the customer directly what they need and value most from your company. This may sound like a scary prospect, since usually when customers provide feedback they expect you to act on it.