Customer journey mapping and why it is so important!
It was the 4th week of my design school and I got a project to map a customer journey. It was really interesting and my journey through the process of doing this assignment was very exciting.
Customer journey mapping :
Customer journey mapping creates a visual representation of the process a customer goes through to achieve a goal.
It represents a series of touchpoints and feelings that a customer has towards the products or services.
The customer journey map can also be called a user journey map or a buyer's journey map. It is often visualized by a chart or a sequence of steps. Each step contains information about the customer's goals, motivations, thoughts, feelings, etc.
This journey includes a business and a customer. From a business perspective, it is very important that the customer should be aware of the product. And in terms of creating awareness, social media has done a great job nowadays.
Hence, Awareness is the first step of any journey map.If there is awareness about the product or business then there is customer.
Why it is so important to map a customer journey for any business or brand?
- Useful for creating empathy for customers.
- Identify the gaps in the customer experience.
- Have an overview of the entire customer journey.
- Identify and resolve the customer hurdles.
- Explore opportunities.
Important stages of any customer journey:
- Awareness
- Consideration
- Decision and purchase
The stages for the customer journey map can be different for different products but the above points are the common ones.
To understand better the process of Customer journey mapping . I have chosen the Mindset book as my product and myself as a customer.
Steps in this customer journey map:
- User discovery
When I was scrolling through the Instagram posts I came across this book mindset and I was really influenced because I also love reading books that will help me in my career growth. After that, I decided to buy the book.
Touchpoint: Instagram application
Emotion: 😃 interested and exited
2. Explore
In the exploration part, I went through the product and service details. Researched more about the product (like how the original product looks and compared the price with other shopping sites).
Touchpoints: Flipkart application and google.
Emotion: 🧐 Curious.
3.Ordering the book
Usually, I buy most of the stuff from the Flipkart app. Therefore, the application was already installed on my phone and I chose to order the book from Flipkart. The check-out steps included:-
- Search the product
- Select the product
- Click on the buy now
- Checking the order summary
- Click on continue
- Selecting the payment mode
- Click on buy now
- Captcha typing
- Confirm order
Touchpoints: The check-out steps.
Emotion: 🤔 carefully clicking the options.
4.Waiting for my product:
When I was waiting for the product, I was very happy and curious to know when my product will reach me. I got an SMS from Flipkart to track my order. I went through that link and saw that it is going to reach me within 3days.
Touchpoints: SMS and Flipkart app.
Emotions:😃curious and happy.
5.Received the product:
As I got the SMS “out for delivery” I was really excited. I was waiting for the call from the delivery person. As I got the call I was ready to receive the order with my cash.
Touchpoints: SMS, the phone call from the delivery person, cash, and The Product.
Emotions: 🤩 Really excited.
6.Feedback :
As the delivery was done, he asked me to give him feedback and I said yes sure thank you. I gave him 5 ratings through the link shared via SMS because the delivery of the product was smooth and the delivery person's behavior was also good.
Touchpoints: SMS
Emotions:🙂Happy
Conclusion:
By creating a customer journey map puts you directly within the buyer’s mind, so that you can see where you are missing the mark, what you’re doing right, and where you’ll need to make improvements across the customer journey.
