Create Effective Customer Journey Maps

Vamsi Batchu shows you how to map customer journeys to effectively communicate the touchpoints to business stakeholders

- Vamsi Batchu

For any business to grow, it is vital to understand its customers and the journey they take when interacting with the business/product. In the same way, as we use GPS maps to guide us when we travel, customer journey maps help businesses to understand the user pain points and identify important things such as:

-Understanding various customer touchpoints and business needs at all the different stages in the sales funnel

-Identifying the logical stages and the gaps between the ideal customer experience and the current experience being offered

-Prioritizing the development priorities and enabling the business to concentrate spending efforts on what features matter the most.

In this article, I will explain the essential parts of a customer journey map with the help of an example.

1. CHOOSING THE RIGHT PERSONA

No two journey maps are the same. It varies from business to business and the design varies depending on the product you are planning to map. The customer journey map can be designed for a single customer persona or it can be created for a segment of customers. Once a customer journey is designed for a persona, it can be applied to other customers by establishing a common understanding of customer stages, goals, touchpoints, opportunities, etc.

The two key pieces which should be focused on are Motivations and Emotions. Motivations include the actions that help the user to move forward in the experience. Emotions are powerful in determining whether the users love your experience or whether they want to abandon it.

Let us consider the scenario of a potential video game buyer. For the purpose of the article, I will keep the stages simple. The persona we will consider for this journey map is John, who is a financial director. He is 42, living in NYC with a high income and is often super busy. You can go as detailed as possible for the persona.