How to map the customer journey

There is much to gain for companies that invest in mapping out the customer journey – more satisfied customers, better business and increased profitability.

Here are tips how to map the customer journey.

· Analyse online data and CRM tools in order to identify customer behaviour. Use the results to prepare for interviews.

· Conduct in-depth interviews with about ten people. Choose both ex- isting customers and people who have rejected you as a supplier. Investigate why they have or have not chosen your company. Also find out what they do when they are looking for a supplier, for example price comparison websites or recommendations from friends.

· Look for patterns in the behaviour of the interviewees. Which customer type are they – decisive, learning or impulsive?

· Conduct a quantitative questionnaire-based survey with a few hundred customers. Ask both closed yes/no questions and open questions in which the customer can expand on his or her reasoning in choosing you or your competitor.

· Compare the in-depth interviews with the questionnaire-based survey – do the same patterns emerge in both? Draw conclusions from the customers’ behaviour.

· Interview colleagues who have direct customer contact, such as Customer Service and Sales. They know which questions customers are asking, and this gives you a deeper understanding of the customer journey.

· When you interview your colleagues, also find out how they work. This provides you with knowledge of any obstacles to the customer journey in the work methods or technical solutions.

· Compare how the company works with customers’ behavioural patterns.

· Change the company in accordance with the customers’ behavioural patterns. If customers are impulsive, make sure you have a website where the purchasing process is quick. If they are the learning type, make sure that you make relevant information easily accessible.