What are the steps to conducting a customer journey mapping exercise?

1 Define your goals and scope

Before you start mapping your customer journey, you need to have a clear idea of what you want to achieve and what you want to focus on. Your goals should be specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound (SMART), and aligned with your business objectives and value proposition. Your scope should define the boundaries of your journey, such as the segment, persona, or scenario of your customer, the channels and touchpoints they interact with, and the stages and phases of their journey.

2 Collect and analyze data

To create an accurate and realistic customer journey map, you need to gather and analyze data from various sources, such as surveys, interviews, feedback, analytics, observations, and existing documents. You should aim to collect both quantitative and qualitative data, and use different methods and tools to synthesize and visualize it. For example, you can use affinity diagrams, empathy maps, personas, and customer profiles to understand your customer's characteristics, motivations, and pain points.

3 Map the current state

The next step is to map the current state of your customer journey, or how your customer interacts with your business today. You can use a template or create your own, but the basic elements of a customer journey map include stages, such as awareness, consideration, purchase, retention, and advocacy; phases that describe the specific actions and tasks; touchpoints that involve points of contact or interaction; channels that are the mediums or platforms that enable the touchpoints; emotions that your customer experiences at each touchpoint or phase; pain points that are problems or issues faced by customers; and opportunities such as personalization, automation, and support to address pain points and enhance the experience.

4 Map the desired state

After mapping the current state of your customer journey, you can move on to mapping the desired state. This is where you can apply your creativity and innovation to design a better and more engaging customer experience. You should use the same elements as the current state map, but with a focus on the opportunities and value that you can deliver to your customer. Additionally, you can add goals, moments of truth, and metrics to your map. Goals refer to the outcomes or benefits that customers expect or desire from each stage or phase of their journey. Moments of truth are critical or memorable moments that influence customers' perception and loyalty. Lastly, metrics are indicators or measures that you can use to evaluate the performance and impact of your customer journey. All these elements will help you create an improved customer journey and ensure satisfaction, retention, and conversion.

5 Validate and iterate

The final step is to validate and iterate your customer journey map, or to test and refine it based on feedback and data. You should involve your stakeholders, such as your customers, employees, partners, and managers, in the validation process, and use different methods and tools, such as prototyping, testing, and measuring, to collect and analyze their input. You should also update and revise your customer journey map regularly, as your customer's needs, expectations, and behaviors may change over time.

6 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?