Curious about Customer Journey Mapping? Wondering how to make customers happier? Identify pain points, enhance their journey. Let's have a chat – ready to boost satisfaction together?
Introduction
What's a Customer Journey Map?
Imagine you're running a company and you want to understand how people feel when they interact with your business. Customer journey mapping is like making a picture that shows the whole story of how customers get to know your company, decide to buy something and keep coming back.
This picture helps you figure out the parts where customers might have problems or where things could be better. Like, maybe some folks get confused on your website, or they don't like waiting on hold when they call your company. This map helps you fix those things and make people happier.
Customer journey mapping also helps you learn what people want at different times. Like, when they first find out about your company, they might be curious. But when they're about to buy, they want to be sure they're making the right choice.
By making this picture, you can make your company better for everyone. You can make sure more people become customers and the ones who are already customers will like your company even more.
Creating a journey map helps you determine what to measure and watch during customer interactions. It shows where you can ask for feedback. By making customer personas (like character profiles), you can understand how different customers experience your brand.
It's not just a simple timeline; it's about knowing what actions, questions and obstacles customers might have. Remember, each customer's path can be different. Making a good map needs research and empathy. There's no one right way, but let's talk about five steps to start.
Why Is It Important?
Having a Customer Journey Map is super important for making a great customer experience. It's like making sure a journey is smooth. It helps you spot any issues in your processes that could hurt the experience. Making this map lets you put yourself in the customer's shoes and see things from their side. This helps you truly understand who your customers are and why they like your brand.
When you know exactly how customers experience your brand and act on those insights, your business can do well. A good map can make it easier for customers, making them happier. Plus, you can attract new customers and keep the ones you have by understanding them better.
Find the Important Points
Imagine "touchpoints" every time a customer interacts with your brand, even online. Figuring out all these touchpoints is tricky. They're like stops on the customer's journey. Some are obvious, like buying, but others, like online reviews, matter too. Some touchpoints might not even be under your control, like when a delivery partner tells customers about their order. Once you know these touchpoints, you can start making the journey map. It's not a straight line; it's more like a winding path different for each business and customer.
Create Customer Personas
Customer personas are like detailed sketches of different types of customers you have. They're like made-up versions of real customers. You'll need data and creativity for this. Avoid stereotypes. These personas should be realistic and capture how customers feel and what they need. You'll think about basic things like age and personality, but also how they relate to your brand. If you want to do even better, you can go out and talk to real customers to learn who they are.
Imagine Different Scenarios
Each persona will have its way of interacting with your brand. Imagine different paths for each persona. If you use the same path for everyone, you'll miss chances to see where things could be better. There are some types of maps you can make to understand different scenarios: how things are now, how they'll be in the future, a whole day in a customer's life and a more detailed blueprint. It's not necessary to make all four, but they help you see things from different angles.
Find Problems
Once you have personas and touchpoints, you can find problems in the journey. These are things that make customers frustrated or confused. When you find these, you can fix them. It could be updating your website or making sure your FAQ answers common questions. Remember, this step isn't just about problems. Finding what makes customers happy helps too.
Understand and Adjust
Now, it's your turn to be the customer. Follow the path you've created and see how it feels. Do this for each persona you make. This helps you understand whether the journey is smooth or bumpy. When you spot issues, fix them. This is an ongoing thing, not just a one-time task. Keep updating the journey map as your business grows. Ensuring the journey is smooth will make your customers happier and your business will do better too.
Types of customer journey mapping software
Cloud/Online Customer Journey Mapping Tools
These are special websites that let you create and share maps showing how customers go through their experience with a product or service. They're really easy to use and you can access them from anywhere. Some examples are Canva, Miro, UXPressia, Maptive and JourneyBuilder.
Diagramming Tools
These tools are designed for making all kinds of visual diagrams, like flowcharts and those customer journey maps we talked about earlier. They have more fancy features, but they can be a bit trickier to use. Some popular ones are Microsoft Visio, Lucidchart, Gliffy and OmniGraffle.
Whiteboard Tools
Imagine having a virtual whiteboard where you can draw and write stuff. These tools let you create your customer journey maps in a more free and creative way. You can work together with others on these. Examples are Google Jamboard, Miro, Mural and Whiteboard Fox.
Features to consider when choosing mapping software
You know how important it is to make customers happy, right? Well, one way to do that is by understanding their journey when they interact with your business. But figuring it out can be very tricky. That's where customer journey maps come in and to create them easily, you need the right software. Let's talk about some simple things to look for when choosing this software:
1. Easy to Use
Imagine using a super easy smartphone to figure out. You want the software to be like that – simple and not confusing. You should be able to drag and drop things without feeling like you need a tech degree!
2. Templates and Examples
It's like having colouring book outlines to fill in. The software should give you ready-made designs and examples to help you get started. You don't have to start from scratch, which is a big time-saver.
3. Teamwork Tools
If you've ever shared a document online, you know how useful it is to work together in real time. The software should let your team join in and add their ideas at the same time. Think of it like a digital sticky note party.
4. Connecting Data
Data means information and it's like the secret sauce. The software should be able to connect with other tools that gather info about your customers. This way, you can see what your customers like and what bugs them.
5. Making Reports and Pictures
Do you know how a report card shows your grades? The software should let you see how well you're doing with customers. It can make colourful charts and graphs to help you understand the numbers better.
6. Price Check
Like when you're shopping, you want to know the price before you buy. Check out how much the software costs and if it's worth what it offers. Some might even let you try before you buy, like a test drive for software!
7. Making it Your Way
You want to add your flavour, right? The software should let you change things to fit your business. You might want to add special steps or change colours – it's like customising your phone background.
8. Locking Things Up Securely
Just like you lock your diary, you want to keep customer info safe. The software should let you decide who gets to see what. And it should also make sure no bad guys can sneak in.
9. Looking at the Big Picture
Customers don't just use one way to talk to you. They might visit your store and website and chat with you online. The software should help you see the whole picture, so you can make everything smooth for them.
So, remember these things when you're picking your customer journey mapping software. It should be easy to use, have templates to help, let your team work together, connect to data, make nice pictures, fit your budget, let you be creative, keep things safe and show you the big picture.
Imagine you're on a quest to understand your customers better – like figuring out how they use your products or services. It's a bit like exploring a map to discover hidden treasures. Well, guess what? There are magical software tools out there that can help you create these maps, called customer journey maps, to guide you on this exciting adventure. Let's take a friendly tour of the top 10 software options that'll make your journey mapping a easy, simple and straight forward.
Some top mapping software
Customer journey mapping makes it easier for businesses to see where things are going well and where they might need a fix. Let's take a look at the top 10 of these "customer journey" tools that experts recommend for making these maps better.
Figma
Figma is like an art studio for maps. You can make them look super creative. Plus, you can work together with your buddies in real time. If you want your maps to have a unique style, Figma's the way to go.
Miro
Miro is like an online whiteboard that's great for planning things, including understanding how customers go through your business. It helps teams work together and is suitable for drawing out customer journeys. You can start for free, but if you want extra features, plans begin at $12 a month. Any business that wants to work together on understanding customer journeys.
Glassbox
Glassbox helps companies figure out what customers do when they visit their websites or use their apps. You can see maps of how customers move around, heatmaps and find out where people might get stuck. Businesses that want to know more about how customers use their stuff.
Freehand by InVision
Freehand is an online tool that's like a digital whiteboard, awesome for creative teamwork. It's made for folks who want to work together on things like customer journey maps, especially if they're designers or marketers. You can start free, or pay $4 a month for extra goodies. Businesses that want to draw and plan with their creative folks.
Totango
Totango helps companies keep customers happy and growing. You can make maps of how customers experience your service, ask them questions and score how much they like you. Businesses that want to make sure their customers are sticking around and loving what they offer.
Lucidchart
Lucidchart isn't just for customer journey maps. It's like a Swiss army knife for drawing and visualising stuff. You can make maps, diagrams and even fancy graphs. It's great for both beginners and experts. Lucidchart lets you work together with others and share your maps easily.
Smaply
Smaply is all about customer journey mapping. It's like a special toolbox just for making maps of how customers experience your business. You can easily create and change maps with its drag-and-drop tools. Plus, it's buddies with other tools like Salesforce and Google Analytics.
Visual Paradigm
Visual Paradigm is one heavy-duty tool. It's like a superhero of customer journey mapping. You can make fancy maps that show how customers behave and then you can even get reports about it. Businesses that need all-around help with customer journeys like Visual Paradigm.
UXPressia
If you want your maps to look nice, UXPressia is your friend. It has a bunch of ready-to-use templates and pictures. You can even add your images and videos to the maps. This is a great tool to show your maps to people who need to understand them.
ClickUp
ClickUp is like a superhero who also knows how to manage projects. So, it's not just about maps, it's about organising everything. You can keep track of tasks, share files and talk with your team, all while managing your customer journey.
Custellence
Imagine a map that can change as your business grows. That's Custellence. It lives in the cloud and helps you keep track of how customers go through your stuff. It's great for businesses that want something that can grow with them.
FlowMapp
FlowMapp likes to make your maps exciting. It's like a playground for maps. You can play with different shapes and templates and even get customer feedback. It's a fun way to get people involved in your maps.
Gliffy
Gliffy is a bit like Microsoft Visio's cool cousin. It's easy to use and has lots of templates. If you're looking for something simple and not too pricey, Gliffy is a good choice.
We've got a bunch of software recommendations for you. If you're looking for more than just mapping features and need tools to manage customer relationships, consider checking out CRM services like Zoho, Salesforce and Microsoft. But if mapping is all you're after, the apps we've listed should do the trick perfectly for your business.
Wrapping Up
Alright, let's sum things up! Imagine you're on a quest to understand your customers better – like figuring out how they use your products or services. It's a bit like exploring a map to discover hidden treasures. Well, guess what? We're here to help you on this exciting adventure!
At IT Solutions Solved, we're not just about fancy words. We're your go-to experts when it comes to making your customers happy. We specialise in something called CRM (Customer Relationship Management), which is just a fancy way of saying we help you treat your customers like VIPs.
Now, you might be wondering how we do this. We've spent around 20 years mastering Customer Relationship Management – the art of building strong customer connections. Think of us as your growth partners, here to supercharge your business.
But that's not all! We've got a box full of tools – like special software – that can make this journey mapping stuff easy and valuable. And guess what? We're offering you a free 45-minute consulting session with us. It's like a tea break where we can chat about your business, your customers and how we can help you make things even better.
Already got some kind of fancy system in place? No worries! We're like the detectives who can audit CRM for you for free – making sure it's working as smoothly as possible.
So, here's the deal: You want your customers to have a great time, right? We're the friendly guides who can help you on this adventure. Think of our blog as a goldmine of super helpful info. Yeah, it might sound a bit dull sometimes, but it can give you an advantage over your competitors. Book your free chat with us and let's set sail together on the sea of excellent customer experiences!
Thanks for reading and we're looking forward to working with you soon!
