Map the journey: The five stages of customer experience

In the article, Undercover boss: How to mystery shop your business to improve results, the very first step to creating your very own mystery shopping program was to get into the details and implicitly understand your customer’s experience. 

When I’m coaching businesses, my first port of call is a journey mapping workshop. Thanks to SmartCompany Plus, you can now get your customer experience journey map template and follow the instructions below to kick start your very own Customer Experience (CX) Journey Map within your organisation — no matter the size. 

Grab the template and let’s do this.

1. Consider the experience

Consider the experience you would like to map out. Common examples are starting with your most purchased service offer (each service offer will require its own journey map).

2. Break it down into stages

The map is then broken into columns that refer to the customer stages. Your job in this mapping activity is to understand how you move your customers from awareness to retention.

The stages include the following:

The five stages

1. Awareness

   The part of the journey where the customer has a need, but may not yet be aware of your business.

2. Consideration

   This refers to the customer coming to learn about your business, whether in store or online.

3. Acquisition

   Refers to the customer selecting you over any other potential competitors.

4. Service

   When they actively engage with your business. They buy your products or pay for your services. They are now officially a paying customer.

5. Retention

   The end goal. We are looking for loyalty and advocacy. Customers in this part of the journey bring both.

3. Identify

Fill out the map starting with each of the customer actions. I always find it important to also understand the customer’s goals (or personal drivers) to make this less mechanical, and help me remember the human experience in their journey.

4. Document touchpoints, channels

Document the front end and background touchpoints and channels that the customer will utilise for each stage of the journey. This includes social media, websites, CRM’s, ERP’s, invoicing/quoting programs, and chat bots.

5. Use data, quantify feeling

Using empathy and what quantitative and qualitative data you have to document what your customers are thinking and feeling.

Not sure? Get out there and ask the question. Don’t guess or you will skew the activity based on your own assumptions, beliefs, and experiences. This is about your customers.

6. Smiling, neutral, or happy

In the Overall CX I like to get visual. I give myself an idea of whether we are smiling, neutral or less than happy through each stage, so you can get your emoji on.

7. Identify pain points

Once you have done each stage, review the information and understand the potential, or real, pain points experienced in each stage by you and the customer. This could include things like ‘Only able to invoice, can’t do automated payments.’

8. Set your goals

Once this is established, understand in detail where your opportunities to improve are, and then go ahead and prioritise them. Using the previous pain point example, your opportunity might be ‘Implement an automated payment gateway platform by new FY’. Be sure to prioritise them and use S.M.A.R.T goal setting to keep them achievable.

Now go and get in front of your competitors and deliver an experience worthy of your customer’s loyalty. Once you have done that, you can be on your way to creating your own mystery shopping program.