How-to Archives - Custellence - The #1 way to create customer journeys https://www.custellence.com/category/blog/how-to/ A world free from bad customer experiences Thu, 24 Oct 2024 18:31:51 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.6.2 https://www.custellence.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/cropped-Custellence-Icon-512x512-1-32x32.webp How-to Archives - Custellence - The #1 way to create customer journeys https://www.custellence.com/category/blog/how-to/ 32 32 How to use a journey map https://www.custellence.com/how-to-use-the-journey-map/ https://www.custellence.com/how-to-use-the-journey-map/#respond Mon, 28 Aug 2023 08:22:45 +0000 https://www.custellence.com/?p=4029 The value and potential of your journey maps depends on how you use them. Custellence lets you design great-looking professional customer maps without having to be a designer. You can present or share the map and insights to teams and management. Either by exporting a PDF or export into other Vector-based formats, or by sending a URL with access to the map. Here are more ways on how to get the most out of your journey mapping efforts. 1. For innovation and idea generation based on customer needs The customer journey map supports the process of innovation in several ways. When you have mapped the Customer Journey, the needs and emotions, you will be able to map the potential opportunities. Where are the opportunities for change? Look for places where the emotional curves low. If solving or improving this customer need while also benefiting the business or solve a business need, you have a perfect opportunity to create profitable and customer centric change. The framework of the journey map lets you put the idea or solution into a larger context, so that you can see if it really works there, or if there are other aspects that you need to consider. Instead of thinking of solutions right away, try to first image the ideal vision for the customer. Imagine how it could be for the customer in the best of worlds. That is a good way to lift you problem-solving thinking to a higher level. 2. For smooth collaborating and co-creation Customer journey mapping and the work around this is truly a team effort. And Custellence lets you share, invite and collaborate on the maps in real time. Just like Google docs! So, even if they are far apart, you can involve and engage team members to co-create and build on each other’s ideas. By sharing your customer journey maps, you will enable everyone in the organisation to have the same view of the customer and of the prioritizations. And remember that great ideas can come from the people you’d least expect. Not only from the development team. That’s why you should build teams that are cross- functional and diverse and share your maps with as many as possible. Ideas can come anytime, and might not only appear during a workshop or brainstorming session. To make sure that you save those untimely ideas, here is a great tip: First, share the map with your team and make everyone an editor. Then leave a few lanes in the journey map empty. Then everyone can can fill in the ideas as they come. 3. As a change plan In addition to visualise the customer journey as it is today, Custellence also have features that will enable you to use the customer journey map as a plan for the future state. To keep the map alive and useful as a change plan, Custellence has a feature called status-setting. That means you can define the cards that represents a customer activity, an idea or a concept according to whether it should stay, be removed, or if it is something new that is to be created. For instance, new ideas that you have chosen to develop, should have the status “create”. This way you will have a map that works as a master plan, and the actions planned can easily be transferred into the backlogs of other teams by linking cards and maps to internal tools like Trello, Jira etc. This way you will be able to continuously update and keep the map alive. You can also connect maps to each other. For instance you might have one end-to-end customer journey connected to several shorter journeys with more details, for a whole customer centric eco-system. For a deeper dive into journey mapping techniques, check out this comprehensive guide on customer journey mapping. Previous step

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]]> The value and potential of your journey maps depends on how you use them. Custellence lets you design great-looking professional customer maps without having to be a designer. You can present or share the map and insights to teams and management. Either by exporting a PDF or export into other Vector-based formats, or by sending a URL with access to the map. Here are more ways on how to get the most out of your journey mapping efforts.

1. For innovation and idea generation based on customer needs

The customer journey map supports the process of innovation in several ways. When you have mapped the Customer Journey, the needs and emotions, you will be able to map the potential opportunities. Where are the opportunities for change? Look for places where the emotional curves low. If solving or improving this customer need while also benefiting the business or solve a business need, you have a perfect opportunity to create profitable and customer centric change.

The framework of the journey map lets you put the idea or solution into a larger context, so that you can see if it really works there, or if there are other aspects that you need to consider.

Instead of thinking of solutions right away, try to first image the ideal vision for the customer. Imagine how it could be for the customer in the best of worlds. That is a good way to lift you problem-solving thinking to a higher level.

2. For smooth collaborating and co-creation

Customer journey mapping and the work around this is truly a team effort. And Custellence lets you share, invite and collaborate on the maps in real time. Just like Google docs! So, even if they are far apart, you can involve and engage team members to co-create and build on each other’s ideas.

By sharing your customer journey maps, you will enable everyone in the organisation to have the same view of the customer and of the prioritizations. And remember that great ideas can come from the people you’d least expect. Not only from the development team. That’s why you should build teams that are cross- functional and diverse and share your maps with as many as possible.

Ideas can come anytime, and might not only appear during a workshop or brainstorming session. To make sure that you save those untimely ideas, here is a great tip: First, share the map with your team and make everyone an editor. Then leave a few lanes in the journey map empty. Then everyone can can fill in the ideas as they come.

3. As a change plan

In addition to visualise the customer journey as it is today, Custellence also have features that will enable you to use the customer journey map as a plan for the future state.

To keep the map alive and useful as a change plan, Custellence has a feature called status-setting. That means you can define the cards that represents a customer activity, an idea or a concept according to whether it should stay, be removed, or if it is something new that is to be created. For instance, new ideas that you have chosen to develop, should have the status “create”. This way you will have a map that works as a master plan, and the actions planned can easily be transferred into the backlogs of other teams by linking cards and maps to internal tools like Trello, Jira etc. This way you will be able to continuously update and keep the map alive.

You can also connect maps to each other. For instance you might have one end-to-end customer journey connected to several shorter journeys with more details, for a whole customer centric eco-system.

For a deeper dive into journey mapping techniques, check out this comprehensive guide on customer journey mapping.

Previous step

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]]> https://www.custellence.com/how-to-use-the-journey-map/feed/ 0 How to create a journey map https://www.custellence.com/how-to-create-a-journey-map/ https://www.custellence.com/how-to-create-a-journey-map/#respond Sat, 26 Aug 2023 14:11:02 +0000 https://www.custellence.com/?p=4010 Learn all about how to create a journey map thats professional and useful. Read all about the structure of journey maps, the elements you use when building them, and how to assemble each part. You will also get some best-practice tips, based on more than 20 years of journey mapping experience. 1. Pick a journey map to create Decide on whether you want to map an “end-to-end customer journey map”. Or maybe you want to focus on a more detailed part of a certain journey. One organization can have several different customer journeys. In Custellence you can create a whole eco-system of connected customer journeys. This means you can start anywhere you like, and build from there. 2. How to decide who’s journey map you will create Decide for whom you are doing the map. Is it an accumulated map for several user groups? Or is it a map for a single user group? Also, consider if you want to make one map per user group. Or instead add lanes or sections in the map for certain groups? If you want to use the maps you are creating not only as a documentation, but as a base for development and change, it´s more efficient to include all your user groups in one map. This way you will avoid the fuzz of having to deal with multiple maps. However you categorize your users, make sure that you consider not only their group characteristics and attitudes. Also consider the progress that the customer is trying to make in a given circumstance, i e what the customer need to accomplish. Some organizations use Personas to categorize their users. There are many misconceptions about what a persona consists of, as well as many pitfalls in using them. We suggest that you instead use the framework “Jobs-to- be-done” (read more on this further down) or behavioural groups when defining your users. 3. Decide the levels of details in your journey map When journey mapping, you want to make sure to create a map that can handle both the overview perspective. As well as the important details that might be of value for your customer centric improvements. How to create a journey map like that? You don’t need to dig deep into areas that work fine today. And on the other hand, you want to be able to really deep dive were development have to be prioritized. The Custellence detail level framework goes from 1 to 4. It is a proven technique to handle different customer journey-levels that will work for most organizations. Stick to this structure and you will get a clear and functional map that will help you achieve your purposes. Look at this example of customer journey lanes with levels 1-4 in Custellence. It will help you to quickly understand how to map the steps that your customer is taking. Level 1 Is the highest level, describing if the customer is in the phase “before”, “during” or “after” a service or an experience. Make sure to always have these higher categories in your end-to-end-map. Level 2 Describes the activities or situations during each phase. For instance during the phase “Before” you might have the activity “researching different alternatives” or “signing up”. There are usually 4-10 activities/situations per phase in a map. To make any sense, all customer activities should be mapped on this level. But not all of it needs to be described deeper. The purpose of mapping level 2 is to get a good overview of where in general the customer experience is failing. Or where you have business challenges that need to be solved. Insights on this level can help strategic decisions about where to focus. Level 3 Describes the activities in the above lane in more detailed steps. For instance: “sign up” may consist of the steps: “check if time fits my calendar”, “log in” or “call grandmother if she can take care of the kids at 2 pm next Wednesday”. If a certain area in your end-to-end-map is defined as important. You can drill down into the level 3 steps in that certain area. But if there are several areas in the map where the customer experience needs to be improved. It’s better to link to specific journey maps that represent those areas. And these maps should have a detail level 3 and 4. In Custellence it’s very easy to create an eco system of connected journey maps like this. Level 4 In the map describes the steps in level 3 in further detail. For instance: “Log in” may consist of “Click on the mail invite”. “Type in username and password”, “redirected”, “get new information”. Make sure that Level 1 is be represented in all maps on the upper lane. Below Level 1 you will need a level 2 in most cases. And for prioritized areas, you will need a level 3. A level 4 is complete list of actions and steps made for detailed development. In Custellence you can choose to hide the detailed levels, which is great for when you need to present for management or for decision-making. 4. Decide if you are going to map the AS-IS or TO-BE You should also decide on whether your customer journey map should visualise the AS-IS-state (i e the current state) or the TO-BE-state (the desired future scenario). However you decide, it might be good to know that in Custellence, you can have both the AS-IS and the TO-BE-scenatior in one map. Read more on how to do this in How to use the map. Create the AS-IS and then add the future states/scenarios in your map. This way you don’t have to toggle between any AS-IS and TO-BE maps during the development. Also, TO-BE maps tend to build too high expectations, which are hard to reach within normal team efforts and budgets. 5. How to create lanes and sub-lanes in a journey map Start to build the map architecture. Start with the horisontal lanes. Make sure that the top lanes

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]]> Learn all about how to create a journey map thats professional and useful. Read all about the structure of journey maps, the elements you use when building them, and how to assemble each part. You will also get some best-practice tips, based on more than 20 years of journey mapping experience.

1. Pick a journey map to create

Decide on whether you want to map an “end-to-end customer journey map”. Or maybe you want to focus on a more detailed part of a certain journey. One organization can have several different customer journeys. In Custellence you can create a whole eco-system of connected customer journeys. This means you can start anywhere you like, and build from there.

Having trouble choosing what customer journey map to create first? Here are some guidelines:

  • Start with an area where customer experience has an effect on important KPI:s
  • Begin where a result that reach the customer can be achieved, and effects on internal KPI:s
  • Start within an area where you have the mandate to influence
  • Start small scoped, instead of starting with the most important, the most critical or the most comprehensive area
  • Simply start anywhere, and show results and quick-wins, to build acceptance for the method and mindset

2. How to decide who’s journey map you will create

Decide for whom you are doing the map. Is it an accumulated map for several user groups? Or is it a map for a single user group? Also, consider if you want to make one map per user group. Or instead add lanes or sections in the map for certain groups? If you want to use the maps you are creating not only as a documentation, but as a base for development and change, it´s more efficient to include all your user groups in one map. This way you will avoid the fuzz of having to deal with multiple maps.

However you categorize your users, make sure that you consider not only their group characteristics and attitudes. Also consider the progress that the customer is trying to make in a given circumstance, i e what the customer need to accomplish. Some organizations use Personas to categorize their users. There are many misconceptions about what a persona consists of, as well as many pitfalls in using them. We suggest that you instead use the framework “Jobs-to- be-done” (read more on this further down) or behavioural groups when defining your users.

Read more on Personas, and the alternative way of describing and understanding your user groups by using the framework “jobs-to-be done”:

3. Decide the levels of details in your journey map

When journey mapping, you want to make sure to create a map that can handle both the overview perspective. As well as the important details that might be of value for your customer centric improvements. How to create a journey map like that? You don’t need to dig deep into areas that work fine today. And on the other hand, you want to be able to really deep dive were development have to be prioritized.

Four lanes showcasing the different levels in the map.

The Custellence detail level framework goes from 1 to 4. It is a proven technique to handle different customer journey-levels that will work for most organizations. Stick to this structure and you will get a clear and functional map that will help you achieve your purposes. Look at this example of customer journey lanes with levels 1-4 in Custellence. It will help you to quickly understand how to map the steps that your customer is taking.

Level 1

Is the highest level, describing if the customer is in the phase “before”, “during” or “after” a service or an experience. Make sure to always have these higher categories in your end-to-end-map.

Level 2

Describes the activities or situations during each phase. For instance during the phase “Before” you might have the activity “researching different alternatives” or “signing up”. There are usually 4-10 activities/situations per phase in a map. To make any sense, all customer activities should be mapped on this level. But not all of it needs to be described deeper.

The purpose of mapping level 2 is to get a good overview of where in general the customer experience is failing. Or where you have business challenges that need to be solved. Insights on this level can help strategic decisions about where to focus.

Level 3

Describes the activities in the above lane in more detailed steps. For instance: “sign up” may consist of the steps: “check if time fits my calendar”, “log in” or “call grandmother if she can take care of the kids at 2 pm next Wednesday”.

If a certain area in your end-to-end-map is defined as important. You can drill down into the level 3 steps in that certain area. But if there are several areas in the map where the customer experience needs to be improved. It’s better to link to specific journey maps that represent those areas. And these maps should have a detail level 3 and 4. In Custellence it’s very easy to create an eco system of connected journey maps like this.

Level 4

In the map describes the steps in level 3 in further detail. For instance: “Log in” may consist of “Click on the mail invite”. “Type in username and password”, “redirected”, “get new information”.

Make sure that Level 1 is be represented in all maps on the upper lane. Below Level 1 you will need a level 2 in most cases. And for prioritized areas, you will need a level 3. A level 4 is complete list of actions and steps made for detailed development. In Custellence you can choose to hide the detailed levels, which is great for when you need to present for management or for decision-making.

4. Decide if you are going to map the AS-IS or TO-BE

You should also decide on whether your customer journey map should visualise the AS-IS-state (i e the current state) or the TO-BE-state (the desired future scenario). However you decide, it might be good to know that in Custellence, you can have both the AS-IS and the TO-BE-scenatior in one map. Read more on how to do this in How to use the map.

Create the AS-IS and then add the future states/scenarios in your map. This way you don’t have to toggle between any AS-IS and TO-BE maps during the development. Also, TO-BE maps tend to build too high expectations, which are hard to reach within normal team efforts and budgets.

5. How to create lanes and sub-lanes in a journey map

Start to build the map architecture. Start with the horisontal lanes. Make sure that the top lanes always contain customer phases and activities. The further down you go vertically, you may add touchpoints and the backstage (internal processes). A professional customer journey should always consist of: Customer phases, customer activities, customer needs, and the emotional curve. That is a basic setup that suits most organisations.

How to create a journey map - showcasing the different perspectives and where in the map they should be placed.

Check out our templates, if you don’t want to start create your journey map from scratch! This short 1 minute video explains how you create lanes, cards, curves and sublanes.

6. The cards

Consider the cards as “headlines” in Custellence where you briefly describe the customers situations and activities connected to those situations. They go from left to right. And further down in the map, use the same principle when describing the internal processes and activities.

How to create a jouney map - showcasing the cards and the line they are in.

8. Sub-lanes and subcards

For the details, such as descriptions, quotes, pictures or other data, use sub-lanes and sub-cards. This way you will be able to show and hide details according to who you are presenting the map for.

Sub-lanes and subcards are visualized in this picture as a customer journey map cut-out.

Now you have a framework you can either print a canvas to run a workshop. Here is a guide on how to run a customer journey workshop. You can also use this template as a quickstart

9. How to create and place content, data and insights in a journey map

A common question here is how much “customer true” insights you need? We recommend that you to start with your assumptions, and then build from there. Don´t wait until you have enough insights. Just start mapping the assumptions that you have about what the customer goes through. By doing so you will not only get a good starting-point for further mapping, you will also help your colleagues to get into a customer mindset, which is of great value. Also, you probably already have a bunch of different research laying around that can be gathered. Once this is done, it will be clear what kind of insights you lack.

How to create a journey map step-by-step

  • Customer phases: Start by creating cards that represents before, during and after in the top lane.
  • Customer journey: This is the next level below the Customer phases, and where you go into more detail. In this lane, describe all the activities that the customer goes through. For example, waiting for an answer, or receiving a letter.
  • Customer needs: Connected to each activity above, describe the customer’s need during this activity.
  • Emotional curve: Describe the customer’s emotional state connected to each activity. If the customer is happy the curve goes up, and vice versa.
  • Potential opportunities- After having mapped the Customer Journey, the needs and emotions, you will be able to map the potential opportunities. Where are the opportunities for change? Look for places where the emotional curve (no 4) is low. If solving or improving this customer need while also benefiting the business or solve a business need, you have a perfect opportunity to create profitable and customer centric change.
  • Ideas & Solutions: Its ideation time! In this lane you place all the ideas and solutions you can you come up with to solve the opportunities you discovered in the lane above (no 5). There are many ways to be creative, brainstorming is one of the most common ways.

Trying to figure out the starting point of a customer journey can sometimes be tricky. It is easier to instead start somewhere in the middle and then work your way back and forth from there as you map the journey.

This is the first step in our series about how to create a journey map. Go to the next step below to learn more.

Previous step

Next step: How to use the journey map

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]]> https://www.custellence.com/how-to-create-a-journey-map/feed/ 0 Before you start journey mapping https://www.custellence.com/before-you-start-journey-mapping/ https://www.custellence.com/before-you-start-journey-mapping/#respond Sat, 26 Aug 2023 13:25:33 +0000 https://www.custellence.com/?p=4005 To get the most out of your efforts, take the time and start with some basic planning and set-up. As with most things, it is good to have an idea of what you want to achieve before you start doing stuff. To set the stage, sort of. Here are some questions to answer, or at least think about as you start journey mapping. 1. Define the purpose of your customer journey mapping Journey maps should have a purpose and should be actionable. The customer journey can be used for many purposes, such as: Alongside defining the purpose, you will probably find that by doing that, you will also be able to better decide on how to structure your insights and data into your customer journey map in Custellence. 2. Set the right expectations before you start journey mapping And last but not least: Think about how your work will contribute to the business. How will you link the improved customer experience to business value? What relevant Key Performance-figures do you want to contribute to? Make sure to have relevant KPI:s set already in the beginning. Some typical customer centric KPI:s are: Want to dig deeper into how to link customer experience to business value? Here is a great article on that 3. Gather your cross-functional team Now, think about the people you need to collaborate with to create the most value. For instance, collecting customer insights – who can provide useful insights? And for the implementation – who do you need to engage in your cross-functional team to create the desired output? Think of the whole process. Also, try to identify both your ambassadors as well as your opponents. And invite them all to start journey mapping together. As you will find, Custellence enables you to connect the input (customer and business insights) with the output in the project (ideas, solutions and activities that will lead to a desired state). The more the merrier: make sure to anchor your project not only with your friends, but also those who might be sceptical to your project. Your best future ambassadors might be your worst antagonists today Next step: How to create a journey map

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]]> To get the most out of your efforts, take the time and start with some basic planning and set-up. As with most things, it is good to have an idea of what you want to achieve before you start doing stuff. To set the stage, sort of. Here are some questions to answer, or at least think about as you start journey mapping.

1. Define the purpose of your customer journey mapping

Journey maps should have a purpose and should be actionable. The customer journey can be used for many purposes, such as:

  • Insight – collect insights and get an overview of how the customer experiences our product or service. What works well and what doesn´t work?
  • Engaging teams or stakeholders and creating a customer centric shared view across the organization.
  • Innovation – use the Customer Journey Map as a starting-point for innovation. How can we better fulfill the customer need in a certain phase or situation?
  • Prioritizing – use the Customer Journey Map as a starting-point for prioritizing efforts. Where are the biggest possibilities or challenges in the service?
  • Realization – use the Customer Journey Map as a starting-point and change map for implementation. What changes do we have to make on the inside of the organization, to be able to deliver the desired customer experience?

Alongside defining the purpose, you will probably find that by doing that, you will also be able to better decide on how to structure your insights and data into your customer journey map in Custellence.

2. Set the right expectations before you start journey mapping

And last but not least: Think about how your work will contribute to the business. How will you link the improved customer experience to business value? What relevant Key Performance-figures do you want to contribute to? Make sure to have relevant KPI:s set already in the beginning. Some typical customer centric KPI:s are:

  • Net promoter score (NPS). A classic type of KPI that reveals whether or not your customers would recommend your products and services to others.
  • Customer satisfaction (CSAT). CSAT- surveys help measure a customer’s contentedness before, during, and after they interact with a support team.
  • Customer Effort Score (CES). Measures how much effort that is required of your customers to do the things they want to do when interacting with your products and services.
  • Retention rate

Want to dig deeper into how to link customer experience to business value? Here is a great article on that

3. Gather your cross-functional team

Now, think about the people you need to collaborate with to create the most value. For instance, collecting customer insights – who can provide useful insights? And for the implementation – who do you need to engage in your cross-functional team to create the desired output? Think of the whole process. Also, try to identify both your ambassadors as well as your opponents. And invite them all to start journey mapping together.

As you will find, Custellence enables you to connect the input (customer and business insights) with the output in the project (ideas, solutions and activities that will lead to a desired state).

The more the merrier: make sure to anchor your project not only with your friends, but also those who might be sceptical to your project. Your best future ambassadors might be your worst antagonists today

Next step: How to create a journey map

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]]> https://www.custellence.com/before-you-start-journey-mapping/feed/ 0 How to map customer journeys – a step-by-step guide https://www.custellence.com/how-to-map-customer-journeys-a-step-by-step-guide/ https://www.custellence.com/how-to-map-customer-journeys-a-step-by-step-guide/#respond Sat, 26 Aug 2023 13:09:34 +0000 https://www.custellence.com/?p=3989 Journey mapping can be done in a variety of ways and for many different purposes. Custellence has the flexibility and structure that makes it suitable for most kinds of customer journeys. Here are the essential steps how to map customer journeys and create value by using Custellence. All kinds of journeys can be mapped in Custellence The journey map comes in many versions and has names like “user journey map”, “employee journey map”, “experience map”, “user story” or “service blueprint”. These maps may differ in purpose and scope, but they all originate from the customer journey map. Regardless of which kind of journey you are mapping, this guide covers the the essential steps to take. Start at step 1 and proceed to the other steps when your finished. Before you start journey mapping: How to create a journey map: How you should use the journey map: The practical CJM guide — A deep dive into journey mapping For a more extensive guide, check out the Practical Customer Journey Mapping Guide for CX Professionals. Besides giving you the full story of journey mapping and its methodology, it also serves as a valuable resource to keep at hand for those times when you get stuck or lost in details when working with customer journeys.

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]]> Journey mapping can be done in a variety of ways and for many different purposes. Custellence has the flexibility and structure that makes it suitable for most kinds of customer journeys. Here are the essential steps how to map customer journeys and create value by using Custellence.

All kinds of journeys can be mapped in Custellence

The journey map comes in many versions and has names like “user journey map”, “employee journey map”, “experience map”, “user story” or “service blueprint”. These maps may differ in purpose and scope, but they all originate from the customer journey map.

Regardless of which kind of journey you are mapping, this guide covers the the essential steps to take. Start at step 1 and proceed to the other steps when your finished.

Before you start journey mapping:

Step 1 - Before you start journey mapping

How to create a journey map:

Step 2 - How to create a journey map

How you should use the journey map:

Step 3 - How to use a journey map

The practical CJM guide — A deep dive into journey mapping

For a more extensive guide, check out the Practical Customer Journey Mapping Guide for CX Professionals. Besides giving you the full story of journey mapping and its methodology, it also serves as a valuable resource to keep at hand for those times when you get stuck or lost in details when working with customer journeys.

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]]> https://www.custellence.com/how-to-map-customer-journeys-a-step-by-step-guide/feed/ 0 How to create themes and storylines in your customer journey map https://www.custellence.com/how-to-create-themes-and-storylines-in-your-customer-journey-map/ https://www.custellence.com/how-to-create-themes-and-storylines-in-your-customer-journey-map/#respond Wed, 05 May 2021 08:18:36 +0000 https://www.custellence.com/?p=2076 Journey maps are powerful for communicating the customer experience to your internal stakeholders. But to get management and people from different departments onboard, you need them to understand and accept the rationale behind your insights, conclusions, and ideas for improvements derived from the customer journey. Most often – and for natural reasons, we read the customer journey map horizontally and visualize how the customers move through your service and the steps they are taking. But equally important is to structure your journey map in a way that makes it easy to read in a vertical way. Click here to explore the journey map template used for this case The key take-away in this case is to make sure to connect the insights to the conclusion (pain points and problem areas), all the way to the solutions, tests, and the changes that you want to implement. In effect, you are then creating logical paths, that not only goes from left to right in the map but also top-down, starting with the customer perspective. This will enable you to communicate the customer journey better, helping your team to understand why you have arrived at the key issues, painpoints, and solutions that you’ll want to take action on. If you want to learn more about how to create a journey map, check out this step-by-step guide. By Sabina Persson

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]]> Journey maps are powerful for communicating the customer experience to your internal stakeholders. But to get management and people from different departments onboard, you need them to understand and accept the rationale behind your insights, conclusions, and ideas for improvements derived from the customer journey.

Most often – and for natural reasons, we read the customer journey map horizontally and visualize how the customers move through your service and the steps they are taking. But equally important is to structure your journey map in a way that makes it easy to read in a vertical way.

Click here to explore the journey map template used for this case

The key take-away in this case is to make sure to connect the insights to the conclusion (pain points and problem areas), all the way to the solutions, tests, and the changes that you want to implement.

In effect, you are then creating logical paths, that not only goes from left to right in the map but also top-down, starting with the customer perspective. This will enable you to communicate the customer journey better, helping your team to understand why you have arrived at the key issues, painpoints, and solutions that you’ll want to take action on.

If you want to learn more about how to create a journey map, check out this step-by-step guide.

By Sabina Persson

The post How to create themes and storylines in your customer journey map appeared first on Custellence - The #1 way to create customer journeys.

]]> https://www.custellence.com/how-to-create-themes-and-storylines-in-your-customer-journey-map/feed/ 0 Which Customer Journeys to start with? https://www.custellence.com/which-customer-journeys-should-i-start-with/ https://www.custellence.com/which-customer-journeys-should-i-start-with/#respond Wed, 12 Sep 2018 06:53:25 +0000 https://www.custellence.com/?p=2035 With so many journeys waiting to be mapped, it can be tough to know which customer journey is the most important one for you to start mapping. Here are our top 5 tips to keep in mind to help you pick a customer journey. Create the change within your mandate When it comes to customer-centricity, the notion of the “most important” journey is a perspective trap. It’s not about mapping the “most important” journeys but rather focusing on where you and the committed people internally have the most impact. Focus on the areas in a customer journey, where you have the mandate to make decisions, get funding, or have the ability to influence leaders and important stakeholders. Wherever you can influence decisions and activities that come from your journey mapping, you have the chance to create a great case. Where solutions reach customers Look for the journey with the highest chance of implementing your changes and where the solution also reaches the customer (e.g., improves the customer experience). Finding these low-hanging customer journeys will help guarantee that your journey maps will create implementable change that will affect your customer-centric KPIs.  Journeys begin with a single step so start small It is often tempting to start with an end-to-end journey or within a business area with a potentially massive impact. But be mindful, particularly at the start of journey mapping, where there is so much capability to improve, it can be easy to complicate things. It can easily overwhelm when starting with too large a scope, becoming too complex, leading to many other potential problems, and ending in nothing. So it’s always best practice to start small, show results, and then scale it up. Affects important KPIs A crucial principle when creating journey maps is to connect them to the purpose of the organization and the relatable customer-centric KPIs. The best way to make your case is to show tangible results where you can impact the customer experience that affects performance metrics. This will help you get the trust and confidence to continue your customer experience initiative. Show the results and they will speak for themselves This tip has less to do with which customer journey you begin with and more with what to do with the map that you’ve started. The most important thing you can do is to show the results and progress you have made, even if it’s on a small scale. Especially if you have metrics or any KPIs to support your case. Showing the changes and tangible results that you have accomplished will save you time and effort in convincing others of the benefits of journey mapping. Discover how to create great Journey Maps by following our step-by-step guide. By Daniel Ewerman

The post Which Customer Journeys to start with? appeared first on Custellence - The #1 way to create customer journeys.

]]> With so many journeys waiting to be mapped, it can be tough to know which customer journey is the most important one for you to start mapping. Here are our top 5 tips to keep in mind to help you pick a customer journey.

Create the change within your mandate

When it comes to customer-centricity, the notion of the “most important” journey is a perspective trap. It’s not about mapping the “most important” journeys but rather focusing on where you and the committed people internally have the most impact. Focus on the areas in a customer journey, where you have the mandate to make decisions, get funding, or have the ability to influence leaders and important stakeholders. Wherever you can influence decisions and activities that come from your journey mapping, you have the chance to create a great case.

Where solutions reach customers

Look for the journey with the highest chance of implementing your changes and where the solution also reaches the customer (e.g., improves the customer experience). Finding these low-hanging customer journeys will help guarantee that your journey maps will create implementable change that will affect your customer-centric KPIs. 

Journeys begin with a single step so start small

It is often tempting to start with an end-to-end journey or within a business area with a potentially massive impact. But be mindful, particularly at the start of journey mapping, where there is so much capability to improve, it can be easy to complicate things. It can easily overwhelm when starting with too large a scope, becoming too complex, leading to many other potential problems, and ending in nothing. So it’s always best practice to start small, show results, and then scale it up.

Affects important KPIs

A crucial principle when creating journey maps is to connect them to the purpose of the organization and the relatable customer-centric KPIs. The best way to make your case is to show tangible results where you can impact the customer experience that affects performance metrics. This will help you get the trust and confidence to continue your customer experience initiative.

Show the results and they will speak for themselves

This tip has less to do with which customer journey you begin with and more with what to do with the map that you’ve started. The most important thing you can do is to show the results and progress you have made, even if it’s on a small scale. Especially if you have metrics or any KPIs to support your case. Showing the changes and tangible results that you have accomplished will save you time and effort in convincing others of the benefits of journey mapping.

A 5 bulletpoints list, showing good advices of which customer journeys to start with.

Discover how to create great Journey Maps by following our step-by-step guide.

By Daniel Ewerman

The post Which Customer Journeys to start with? appeared first on Custellence - The #1 way to create customer journeys.

]]> https://www.custellence.com/which-customer-journeys-should-i-start-with/feed/ 0 Customer Journey Mapping: Where in the map do I start? https://www.custellence.com/customer-journey-mapping-where-in-the-map-do-i-start/ https://www.custellence.com/customer-journey-mapping-where-in-the-map-do-i-start/#respond Wed, 12 Sep 2018 06:40:35 +0000 https://www.custellence.com/?p=2030 A question that almost always arises when you start mapping the customer journey is: where in the map do I start? Or, where does the customer journey start and where does it end? What customer activity should be the first? Instead of getting stuck, trying to find the definite starting-point of the customer journey, here is a better way to go about it: Start in the Customer Phase named “during” , which is the phase where you meet the customer in your own delivery touchpoints and processes. Start mapping here, and then you can continue to work your way backwards and forwards. The secret is that you don’t have to map the journey in the chronological order right away, but instead work your way back and forth as you explore the customer’s journey. Ask questions like, what happened before that, what happens after this and you will see how the journey map grows. Read all about the structure of journey maps, the elements you use when building them, and how to assemble each part, in our step-by-step guide. By Daniel Ewerman

The post Customer Journey Mapping: Where in the map do I start? appeared first on Custellence - The #1 way to create customer journeys.

]]> A question that almost always arises when you start mapping the customer journey is: where in the map do I start? Or, where does the customer journey start and where does it end? What customer activity should be the first? Instead of getting stuck, trying to find the definite starting-point of the customer journey, here is a better way to go about it:

Start in the Customer Phase named “during” , which is the phase where you meet the customer in your own delivery touchpoints and processes. Start mapping here, and then you can continue to work your way backwards and forwards. The secret is that you don’t have to map the journey in the chronological order right away, but instead work your way back and forth as you explore the customer’s journey. Ask questions like, what happened before that, what happens after this and you will see how the journey map grows.

Read all about the structure of journey maps, the elements you use when building them, and how to assemble each part, in our step-by-step guide.

By Daniel Ewerman

The post Customer Journey Mapping: Where in the map do I start? appeared first on Custellence - The #1 way to create customer journeys.

]]> https://www.custellence.com/customer-journey-mapping-where-in-the-map-do-i-start/feed/ 0 What lanes do I need in my Customer Journey Map? https://www.custellence.com/what-lanes-do-i-need-in-my-customer-journey-map/ https://www.custellence.com/what-lanes-do-i-need-in-my-customer-journey-map/#respond Wed, 12 Sep 2018 06:12:49 +0000 https://www.custellence.com/?p=2023 What lanes should I put in my Customer Journey Map for it to make sense and be useful? The basic elements of a Customer Journey Map are Customer steps, Insights and Customer emotions. Insights contains e.g. needs, behaviours, quotes and emotions contains e.g thinking and feelings. Once this is mapped you will have a good starting point. But, and this is important, to be able to make something out of the map, i e make decisions on activities that create change and drives value – you will need to add something more. This “something” that you add, will determine what you will be able to accomplish with your map. So, the lanes you add below emotions are the change-driving lanes. These are the lanes that will enable you to use the journey map as a tool to go from insights to actions that will create value for your customers and your business. For instance, you might add lanes that contains Potential opportunities and Ideas & solutions. Then you get a customer journey map that is useful for idea generation and innovation. By now you have a good basic map. But to understand how your customer’s journeys are affected by your organization’s activities, you also need to connect the customer journey lanes to the organizations solutions and touchpoints. Like this: The lanes you add below the customer journey depends on your organization, team and project goals. CX leading organisations manage to fully connect operational activities with the customers perspective, while CX laggard fail in doing so. Check out our templates for more inspiration and know-how or have a look in our how to create a journey map step-by-step guide. By Daniel Ewerman

The post What lanes do I need in my Customer Journey Map? appeared first on Custellence - The #1 way to create customer journeys.

]]> What lanes should I put in my Customer Journey Map for it to make sense and be useful?

The basic elements of a Customer Journey Map are Customer steps, Insights and Customer emotions. Insights contains e.g. needs, behaviours, quotes and emotions contains e.g thinking and feelings.

Once this is mapped you will have a good starting point. But, and this is important, to be able to make something out of the map, i e make decisions on activities that create change and drives value – you will need to add something more. This “something” that you add, will determine what you will be able to accomplish with your map. So, the lanes you add below emotions are the change-driving lanes. These are the lanes that will enable you to use the journey map as a tool to go from insights to actions that will create value for your customers and your business.

For instance, you might add lanes that contains Potential opportunities and Ideas & solutions. Then you get a customer journey map that is useful for idea generation and innovation.

By now you have a good basic map. But to understand how your customer’s journeys are affected by your organization’s activities, you also need to connect the customer journey lanes to the organizations solutions and touchpoints. Like this:

The lanes you add below the customer journey depends on your organization, team and project goals. CX leading organisations manage to fully connect operational activities with the customers perspective, while CX laggard fail in doing so. Check out our templates for more inspiration and know-how or have a look in our how to create a journey map step-by-step guide.

By Daniel Ewerman

The post What lanes do I need in my Customer Journey Map? appeared first on Custellence - The #1 way to create customer journeys.

]]> https://www.custellence.com/what-lanes-do-i-need-in-my-customer-journey-map/feed/ 0 How much insights do I need when Customer Journey Mapping? https://www.custellence.com/how-much-insights-do-i-need-when-customer-journey-mapping/ https://www.custellence.com/how-much-insights-do-i-need-when-customer-journey-mapping/#respond Wed, 12 Sep 2018 06:04:38 +0000 https://www.custellence.com/?p=2017 We often hear that “I don’t have enough insights to start mapping the customer journey”. But hey, don’t wait to get started until you have enough insights. In fact, you can start journey mapping without a single customer-true insight. Photo by Patrick Tomasso on Unsplash Instead, just gather your team and start mapping the assumptions that you have about what the customer goes through. Perhaps you also have a bunch of customer research laying around that can be put into the map. Once you have started like this, you will naturally come to areas in the journey map where you realise you only have assumptions and it will be clear what kind of insights you lack and need to collect. Most often these are the areas that are important to the business or where you know you have customer experience issues. Now that’s when you should do some proper customer research. By taking this approach, you will get a good starting-point for further mapping without the delay of unnecessary research activities. Also, putting yourselves in the customer’s shoes by imagining what the customer goes through, is a very good way to get yourself and your colleagues into a customer mindset and to build empathy. Want to know more on how to create great customer journey maps? Learn more on our Step-by-step guide By Daniel Ewerman

The post How much insights do I need when Customer Journey Mapping? appeared first on Custellence - The #1 way to create customer journeys.

]]> We often hear that “I don’t have enough insights to start mapping the customer journey”. But hey, don’t wait to get started until you have enough insights. In fact, you can start journey mapping without a single customer-true insight.

Photo by Patrick Tomasso on Unsplash

Instead, just gather your team and start mapping the assumptions that you have about what the customer goes through. Perhaps you also have a bunch of customer research laying around that can be put into the map. Once you have started like this, you will naturally come to areas in the journey map where you realise you only have assumptions and it will be clear what kind of insights you lack and need to collect. Most often these are the areas that are important to the business or where you know you have customer experience issues. Now that’s when you should do some proper customer research.

By taking this approach, you will get a good starting-point for further mapping without the delay of unnecessary research activities. Also, putting yourselves in the customer’s shoes by imagining what the customer goes through, is a very good way to get yourself and your colleagues into a customer mindset and to build empathy.

Want to know more on how to create great customer journey maps? Learn more on our Step-by-step guide

By Daniel Ewerman

The post How much insights do I need when Customer Journey Mapping? appeared first on Custellence - The #1 way to create customer journeys.

]]> https://www.custellence.com/how-much-insights-do-i-need-when-customer-journey-mapping/feed/ 0 How long does it take to make a Customer Journey Map? https://www.custellence.com/how-long-does-it-take-to-make-a-customer-journey-map/ https://www.custellence.com/how-long-does-it-take-to-make-a-customer-journey-map/#respond Wed, 12 Sep 2018 06:00:05 +0000 https://www.custellence.com/?p=2012 The time it takes to create a customer journey map is entirely dependent on how detailed you want your map to be. Here are some helpful tips to give you a better understanding of the estimated time it will take you to map your customer’s journey. How long does it take to make a Journey Map? The honest answer is it depends! It depends on a handful of potential variables, such as the depth of detail you’re aiming to map and the size and complexity of the journey you’re mapping. Or it could be organizational factors like the resources you have to work with, the size of your team, and their experience with customer journey maps. If you base your journey map on customer research, it will take longer than if you create it based on assumptions. You will also get more reliable insights this way. It’s only natural for journey maps based on research with higher levels of detail to take longer than assumption-based maps. For instance, you can create a journey map that is an assumption based on a level 2 detail in a day. It might not be the best map to invest too heavily into to use as a basis for change. But if your purpose is to get started with journey mapping or to build empathy and buy-in from colleagues, it is a good start. You will have to weigh the time and effort you’ll spend against the usefulness and value of the map. Knowing the depth of the detail you would like to map can go a long way to estimating the time frame it might take you to finish your map. Learn more about the detail level framework in the article How detailed should my journey map be? By Daniel Ewerman

The post How long does it take to make a Customer Journey Map? appeared first on Custellence - The #1 way to create customer journeys.

]]> The time it takes to create a customer journey map is entirely dependent on how detailed you want your map to be. Here are some helpful tips to give you a better understanding of the estimated time it will take you to map your customer’s journey.

How long does it take to make a Journey Map? The honest answer is it depends!

It depends on a handful of potential variables, such as the depth of detail you’re aiming to map and the size and complexity of the journey you’re mapping. Or it could be organizational factors like the resources you have to work with, the size of your team, and their experience with customer journey maps.

If you base your journey map on customer research, it will take longer than if you create it based on assumptions. You will also get more reliable insights this way. It’s only natural for journey maps based on research with higher levels of detail to take longer than assumption-based maps.

For instance, you can create a journey map that is an assumption based on a level 2 detail in a day. It might not be the best map to invest too heavily into to use as a basis for change. But if your purpose is to get started with journey mapping or to build empathy and buy-in from colleagues, it is a good start.

You will have to weigh the time and effort you’ll spend against the usefulness and value of the map. Knowing the depth of the detail you would like to map can go a long way to estimating the time frame it might take you to finish your map. Learn more about the detail level framework in the article How detailed should my journey map be?

By Daniel Ewerman

The post How long does it take to make a Customer Journey Map? appeared first on Custellence - The #1 way to create customer journeys.

]]> https://www.custellence.com/how-long-does-it-take-to-make-a-customer-journey-map/feed/ 0