This article was based on the interview with Stacy Sherman of Doing CX Right by Greg Kihlström, MarTech keynote speaker for The Agile Brand with Greg Kihlström podcast. Listen to the original episode here:
Journey management is a holistic approach to understanding and improving the way customers interact with a brand. It goes beyond simply mapping out the customer journey and encompasses all touchpoints, both online and offline, that a customer encounters when engaging with a brand. This includes retail experiences, customer service interactions, and user experiences across various channels.
The concept of journey management is often misunderstood and confused with journey mapping. While journey mapping is a component of journey management, it is important to recognize that they are not the same thing. Journey mapping focuses on visualizing the customer journey, while journey management takes a more comprehensive approach by considering the entire customer experience and designing it in a way that aligns with business objectives.
To effectively implement journey management, organizations need to break down silos and involve stakeholders from different departments, such as marketing, e-commerce, and finance. By bringing together individuals who have a role in shaping the customer experience, organizations can gain a better understanding of how their actions impact the overall journey.
The process of journey management involves walking in the customer’s shoes and understanding the domino effect of each role and responsibility within the organization. This helps to break down human and data silos, as individuals begin to see how their work connects and influences others.
However, it is not enough to design the customer experience in a single workshop and consider the job done. Continuous validation with real customers is crucial to ensure that the designed journey meets their actual needs. By involving customers in the validation process, organizations can gain valuable insights and make necessary adjustments to improve the customer experience.
Measurement and analytics also play a vital role in journey management. It is important to measure the effectiveness of the customer journey and identify areas for improvement. By incorporating data and analytics into the process, organizations can measure customer satisfaction, identify pain points, and prioritize areas for optimization.
Journey management is a holistic approach to understanding and improving the customer experience. By aligning business objectives, involving stakeholders from different departments, validating with real customers, and incorporating measurement and analytics, organizations can create a customer journey that is optimized and personalized. This, in turn, leads to customer satisfaction, loyalty, and ultimately, business success in today’s competitive landscape.
