According to an ICMI trends report on Journey Mapping and the Omni-Channel experience, “CX has overtaken quality and price as contact centers’ primary source of competitive advantage.” The report also notes that “nearly two-thirds of customers have cut ties with a brand over a single poor experience.” This information highlights the importance of understanding the customer’s journey and providing customers with more choices through a practical omnichannel experience to increase customer satisfaction. In this article, we explore the link between customer journey mapping and the omnichannel experience.
Customer Journey Mapping
A Customer Journey Map illustrates the steps that a particular customer persona takes to achieve a specific goal. Each step of the map can also include what a customer thinks and feels while experiencing that step.
For example, a customer may want to get customer support from a company because they have found an error while using software provided by the company. The customer would go through specific steps (a customer journey) to reach a solution. These solutions might include finding a place on the company site to submit a ticket, submitting the key, getting an email confirmation, then getting a reply within 24 hours, and finally, receiving a customer satisfaction survey.
The Importance of Customer Journey Mapping to an Organization
Effective customer journeys are beneficial for both a company and its customers. For customers, it helps to improve customer service and provides a better overall experience with the company. By optimizing customer journeys, a company increases its customer satisfaction, customer loyalty, and brand reputation. Optimization, in turn, leads to more productivity and revenue for the business.
Mapping out customer journeys helps an organization identify what a specific customer is experiencing in a particular kind of situation, allowing the organization to locate areas of improvement, opportunities to shorten the customer journey, and places where the company can gain a competitive advantage. By asking customers questions about each step of their customer journey, a company can significantly improve the efforts of the journey.
The Omni-Channel Experience
The omnichannel experience provides customers with various channels for interacting with a company, giving them more choices. These may include phone, email, live chat, chatbots, and resources where they can find answers to questions independently. Having different options allows a customer to take the customer journey of their choice, which increases customer satisfaction. Currently, a fundamental goal of the omnichannel experience for many organizations is to offer seamlessness so that customers do not need to start an interaction over again when they switch to another channel.
Customer Journey Mapping and the Omni-Channel Experience
To make customer journey mapping and the omnichannel experience work well together, consider the following:
- Creating consistent, well-defined processes that are easy to understand and follow.
- Providing multiple channels for customer contacts that are seamless and easy to use.
- Gathering data and using intelligent analytics to understand the customer. Tracking customer satisfaction for your channels and the steps inside of each customer journey.
- Using efficient and intelligent technology to listen to your customers, such as post-call surveys, speech analytics, and call recordings, to help optimize the experience.
At CH Consulting Group, we help you set up effective customer journeys and Omni-channel experiences for your customers.
CH Consulting Group provides unparalleled expertise in the Contact Center and Customer Experience (CX) verticals. We have a nationwide team of industry veterans that can assist you in achieving exponential growth, managing change, and generating profit. Connect with us here today for a comprehensive CX assessment and strategic plan customized for your unique business needs.
