Since we already reviewed the main concepts in the first part abouthow to create a customer journey, now we will approach the more practical part to see how to create them. Go for it!
HOW DO YOU CREATE A CUSTOMER JOURNEY ?
The important thing is to be clear about what we are doing the exercise for and what we want to achieve. This series of content is related to getting to know the partner , so the main objective is precisely that, getting to know our target customer(s) to achieve efficiencies, generate value and improve our customer experience.
At the end of the article we have left areference templatewhich can be used as a guide. It is a generic template, and more than a trip it is a series of steps in a process, more or less standard, of the activities that are carried out in a gym. But before downloading it, we are going to show you where to start below.
- Participants and Requirements
In relation to the participants and requirements, they are the same as those discussed in thearticle about Buyer Personas:basically, a multidisciplinary team that includes all the people who interact with customers.
- What is the OBJETIVE?
The main objective is to create a customer journey for a specific buyer persona .
We mentioned before that there is not a single journey for a buyer persona, there are multiple interactions throughout the customer’s life and the relationship that is built with the brand. To simplify the exercise, we will work on a specific trip to explain the methodology, which can also be used for other trips.
When you work on your customer journeys, you can prioritize those that you have detected as generating dissatisfaction, or those that you somehow sense are generating bad experiences for your customers, or finally, those journeys that are inefficient with highly redundant tasks.
- The process
We will describe the steps to follow to create a trip, indicating the objective and the result sought. In general terms, we can summarize that the process begins with identifying a trip, thinking about the stages that make it up, and then creating the moments that customers experience. Let’s go there!
1. SELECT A TRIP AND DEFINE THE STAGES
Objective : In this step, we are going to define a specific Customer Journey, we will study it and we will define the different stages that constitute it.
Methodology:
- A specific journey or process is selected to be evaluated by the participants. You can work with a single large group, or create different groups and then seek consensus. Working in groups is always recommended as this way more ideas can come out that can then be contrasted with the rest of the groups. Also, as a work dynamic, it is more fun.
- Examples of trips : going to the gym, booking a class, joining a gym, my first day at the center, downloading the app, registration process, a PT session, etc.
- Stage definitions : Once we have selected the trip, if we are working in groups, each person in the group creates the stages of the selected trip. The stages are written on post-its.
- Examples : If we use the “Go to the gym” trip, the stages could be: preparing the sports bag, transportation to the gym, arrival at the center, warm-up, etc. If, for example, we use the “Registration Process at the reception” journey, the stages could be: arrival at the gym, access to it, welcome, conversation with the staff, registration process, payment, interview, app download from the center etc.
- All the stages are then grouped together and shared with other teams to create a single set of stages for the chosen trip. The idea is to have consensus. Note : Do not worry if many stages come out. At the moment of sharing it with the rest of the groups, you yourselves will reach an agreement on which are the most relevant stages and which make the most sense for your operation. This is why it is very important that people from different departments participate.
2. ORGANIZATION OF THE STAGES AND CREATION OF MOMENTS
Objective : Next, we will organize the stages linearly on a time axis, we will create three levels of satisfaction , from highest to lowest, and we will place all the moments that make up each stage at a specific level of satisfaction.
Methodology:
- The stages defined in the previous step are placed on a blackboard in a linear fashion, in order of occurrence.
- Example: in the case of the “Go to the gym” trip, we would start by placing from left to right: preparing the bag, travel, arrival at the gym, welcome, etc.
- Below those stages, we will place three levels of satisfaction, from highest to lowest.
- Example : The levels of satisfaction can be: excellent, neutral, bad; and can be represented with colors or icons. Remember that these represent what our buyer person feels when going through this stage.
At this point, we will have something similar to this:
In this example, we use a possible trip called “online registration” and different stages that occur during it are shown. You can create as many stages as you like, however we recommend trying to simplify the exercise by using the stages that the group considers most relevant.
- The stages are distributed among the groups, and each group will have the task of creating the moments for each stage.
- Examples : For the “Go to the gym” trip, in the “Arrival to the center” stage, the moments can be: looking for a locker, changing clothes, interacting with the reception staff, etc. While for the “Online registration” trip, in the “First visit at the reception” stage, the moments can be: interaction with the reception person, entrance to the gym, finalizing the registration, receiving the bracelet, etc.
- Once the moments are created by the groups, they are shared to seek consensus or refine them, and are placed under the corresponding stage of the journey. We must place them at a specific level of satisfaction. This is where we will use the information collected from the results of the interviews during the creation of the buyer personas , or, we can use another source of information that we have, such as survey data, conversations with clients, feedback from coaches, social networks , etc. If we do not have any verifiable information, we will use intuition and group consensus, taking into account that we must validate these hypotheses a posteriori.
- Example : If we are aware that members have a bad experience when picking up the bracelet at the reception after registering online, or if there are complaints during the first day in general, then the moments “Entrance to the gym” or “End online registration process” we would place them in the area of dissatisfaction (or sad face).
3. ANALYSIS OF THE GROUP TRIP AND DETECTION OF OPPORTUNITIES
Objective : Finally, we are going to review the entire Customer Journey as a group to detect areas for improvement, opportunities and actions to solve pain points.
Methodology:
- Once we have reviewed and located the moments, the entire trip is analyzed by the group to review and agree that all the moments make sense and are positioned in their respective levels of satisfaction.
- Points marked with low satisfaction are identified as pain points. These are marked as a priority and further studied to detect what is causing friction in the customer experience, and thus try to find a solution.
- Example : If we have detected that there is a pain point in the moment “Registration on the web”, we must not only review it and act to make it an easy process, but it can be an opportunity to turn it into a “wow” moment .
- First, the team must identify what is failing in the process, that is, understand the reason for the dissatisfaction. Then, it is necessary to define what would be the appropriate process. It is a good idea to ask the client for her feedback to understand what expectations there are around this moment. Finally, a process must be designed to meet (or exceed) customer expectations .
- More opportunities are explored throughout the journey: additional or hidden pain points, innovation opportunities, differentiation opportunities, defining moments of truth , operational efficiency opportunities…
- Example : A member’s first interaction with their gym should be special. What can we do to make it go from neutral satisfaction to being very satisfied? Maybe there’s an opportunity in the commercial pitch or on the first day in the gym?
CONCLUSION
Creating, or mapping , customer journeys has multiple benefits. As we are talking about in this series about Knowing your Partners , precisely these help us to have a higher value knowledge of the interactions of our ideal clients with us, to detect areas of improvement, look for efficiencies and create tactics that help us overcome the expectations of our customers. Once again, it is a very valuable exercise that involves the entire team and aligns the organization around its customers.
Remember! Understanding the customer, creating service processes and aligning your team around the customer are fundamental pieces to exceed your customer’s expectations. That is why this series focuses on work dynamics in multidisciplinary teams, with a process mentality, always with the buyer persona in mind. In the words of the Disney Institute: “service creates differentiation.”
We encourage you to create your customer journeys and start your journey towards improving the customer experience!
