Customer journey mapping, a strategic process of mapping the customer's entire journey from start to finish is a great business concept.
The sole objective of this process is to keep an eye on the customer's experience at multiple touchpoints, which collectively carve their experience.
Delivering the best customer experience is important for many reasons. One of the main reasons is that it provides insights into the customer's various touchpoints.
Simply put, if you discover a customer as a detractor, then it's crucial to know what exactly made him/her a detractor. To do this, a descriptive picture of the customer's journey is important, which we call customer journey mapping. In today's blog, we'll discover the importance of this concept and how NPS plays a vital role.
Meet Sarah, Alex, and Max: A Tale of Diverse Customer Journeys
Let's turn this informational blog into an informative story about the importance of customer journey mapping. To do this, we will have three guests: Sarah, Alex and Max.
Sarah, Alex, and Max barely share anything because they come from different backgrounds and needs. However, one thing they have in common and is important for today's topic is that they have bought the same product recently.
So, let's dive deeper into knowing Sarah, Alex, and Max and how they purchased the product we are discussing.
Firstly, Sarah, who is a professional in the creative field, doesn't get a lot of time. So, she often goes through her social media while going to the office or returning home. Sarah needs to buy new wireless earphones because she is having issues with one of them.
So, one day, she saw an ad for wireless earphones from ABC company and bought them through the link given there. Her research for the product included the post's comments, product reviews on the app from where she bought it, and features listed online.
On the other hand, Alex is a tech-savvy guy whose career also aligns with his passion. He creates tech content for a media outlet based in Delhi. He often reads blogs about tech products and one day, he read about wireless earphones that are available at a heavy discount. After looking at its features and watching some YouTube review videos, Alex confirmed that the deal was great and bought it online.
Lastly, Max, who runs his small family business, mostly doesn't need to be connected to the online world. He and his friend, one day, visit an offline store to buy a smartphone for Max. When Max was done purchasing the smartphone, the store owner suggested Max buy a pair of wireless earphones.
After listening to the benefits of a wireless earphone, Max gets convinced, so the shopkeeper shows the available options. The shopkeeper puts 3-4 earphones of different brands. Based on his understanding and with the shopkeeper's help, Max chooses the same branded earphones as Sarah and Alex.
Now, let's see how the interaction between these characters and the product goes.
Sarah, Alex, and Max's Interaction with the Product: A Journey Unfolds
Sarah's interaction with the delivery of the product was great. Sarah got updates about the delivery, and the delivery person arrived on time. However, soon, Sarah encountered an issue with the product and tried to contact the customer service agent by phone.
However, since don't get a lot of time from her busy life, she is often not able to navigate through the long IVR. Once she finally reconnects with the agent, she finds out that she has to go to the company's service center, which is far from her office and home.
Also, she only gets time on Sundays, and the service center remains closed. Due to a lack of time on other days, the warranty period for the product ends, and now Sarah doesn't want to get the product fixed because it will cost her money.
Alex, however, had a great experience throughout the journey. He had to wait one day longer than the expected date of delivery. But that doesn't matter as soon as Alex gets the product and uses it.
He is totally surprised with the quality of the product and its sound quality at this price point. Moreover, Alex doesn't encounter any issues during the product's lifetime.
Now, Max had a neutral experience because the in-store service was great. But, Max's experience with the earphones was decent. He just used them as regular earphones, but he is not affectionate towards the brand at all.
Perception vs. Reality: Understanding Diverse Experiences
While the brand may want to have a similar perception among all its customers, with our three characters' experiences, we can see that it's not the case. The experiences of the three differ a lot, and the reason for this is not one but many touchpoints in the customer journey.
Sarah was totally upset with her purchase even though she wanted the product and didn't shop impulsively. The reason is the lack of direct customer support options and services, such as pickup and drop, which would have repaired her product on time. She always criticizes the product if anyone talks about it and warns others from buying it.
Alex's experience was the smoothest among the three. Even when he didn't want a product he bought, he was really happy with the deal and the product. Alex often tells everybody about his purchase, and now his friends also have the same wireless earphones.
Lastly, Max's experience was good, too, but he doesn't recommend the product to anyone because the brand doesn't sit in the mind of Max. For Max, the earphones are just earphones and not the earphones of a particular brand.
Acting on these three different events and others individually is impossible. But, these three different experiences have led us to three different perceptions about the same company. So, we can categorize these three types of customers to make it easy to take action. Here's how to do it.
Categorizing Customers: Promoters, Detractors, and Passives
While the customers' experiences were like ups and downs, nothing went unnoticed by the company. Their
NPS surveys helped them continuously track the customers' experiences. Here's how the company categorized the three customers and acted on them:
Sarah: It was very clear that Sarah is a detractor because she continuously rated the lowest ratings in the surveys sent to her after her customer service interactions. The company focused on the concerns of customers like Sarah to make their experience better.
The company reached out to Sarah personally which contributed to two things. Firstly, Sarah felt valued even after all that already happened. Then, the representative listened to the problem faced by Sarah. Finally, based on the conversation, the representative provided Sarah with a free replacement for her product. Moreover, the change in Sarah's perception was clear as she rated a 10/10 in the survey sent right after the interaction.
Alex: Alex is a promoter but it doesn't mean that there's no room for improvement. The journey of Alex pointed to a minor issue of late delivery which in some cases can lead to order cancellation. Also, since Alex was living in a tier-1 city, this delay is unacceptable. So, the company worked on this aspect. Moreover, the company encourages customers like Alex to share their reviews on the product and service as they always have something positive to say.
Max: Max is a passive who neither promotes nor demotes the earphone brand. However, the brand wanted people like Max to be a part of their community and look at the brand's products as a lifestyle.
So, the brand targets Max with personalized marketing to inform him about their community campaigns. Also, they keep Max updated with new items that align with his preferences. This way, the company finally makes Max a part of their promoters and a member of their community who looks at the brand as a lifestyle option.
SurveyCXM: Transforming Customer Surveys into Actionable Insights
So, that's how the customer journeys differ just because you have different touchpoints. Moreover, while you can have many touchpoints, some of them don't have room for the brand to look into them directly. For example, Max's in-store experience differs from that of the other two.
That's why having powerful
NPS software like SurveyCXM is crucial for business today. It is an all-in-one solution for all your customer experience needs. The most highlighting feature of the software is its live net promoter score. This software lets you send NPS surveys to your customers and map their experiences and overall journey.
