How can a customer journey lead to data enlightenment?
Customer journey mapping has many applications to enable an enhanced relationship between you and the customer, including:
- Understanding and improving the customer experience;
- Providing a platform for delivery of effective, timely and relevant communications;
- Enabling a consistent and efficient level of customer service;
- Improved customer retention, through understanding how they transition through each stage in their purchase life cycle.
There are numerous techniques and tools to help in the discovery, defining and delivery of customer journey maps, all of which provide insight into your customers, where they are on their journey with you and the key influence/decision points.
This understanding of you customer’s key touchpoints also enables you to identify potential and actual areas of data capture within and around your business.
Data awareness through my customer’s journey
Taking a typical customer journey map, such as a journey completed when choosing a new mobile phone, you will have defined the activity completed by each touchpoint:
This single journey provides 8 (eight) points of data capture and raises the questions, “am I capturing any data at any of the customer touch points?” and “what type of data am I capturing?”
To answer the first of these two questions following a simple yes/no questionnaire on each touchpoint will provide confirmation that data is being captured. As follows:
- Are you able to measure the touch point at some level, in terms of success, volume of activities, value of activities, etc? In general terms are any reports/ad-hoc analysis available on the touchpoint?
- Do you know how to access the data provided from the touchpoint?
- Do you have an understanding of all the data provided in the touchpoint, in terms of available content, possible values and value meanings? (e.g. Gender = 1, means ‘Female’). In general terms do you have a data dictionary or equivalent details provided in the data access system?
Answering ‘yes’ to any of these questions means data is being collected, it may not be in an easily accessible, centralised and validated form, but the data collection process has begun for that given touchpoint.
To understand more about what type of data exists and to see additional Customer Journey articles click here.
If you have any further questions or would like support / guidance in discovering your data and turning data into information to provide actionable insight that can deliver value to your business, please contact me through the BlacklerRoberts Ltd “Contact Us” page and I will be happy to discuss your needs. Alternatively please follow @BlacklerRoberts on twitter for further insights.
Mapping a customer journey is much like storyboarding . No single frame can make characters come alive; only a deep understanding of your customers can lead you from board to board, sketching out the adventure they take to your brand.