How can you start good relationships with customers built on trust? Eleven pointers vital to customer journey mapping http://goo.gl/0bR90…
*Building a culture of trust in the customer journey
*The Sound of Your Brand – a music strategy that shapes mood and stimulates vista
Customer journey mapping is primarily used as a tool to investigate, analyse and improve customer experiences. However there is another more profound use of the customer journey. DesignThinkers, for instance, has developed a system called the Customer Journey LAB.
The Customer Journey LAB is used to facilitate an ongoing conversation within the organisation and build or strengthen a culture of mutual trust.
The Customer Journey LAB is an iterative method to build a culture of trust and adaptability, which is the most important step into building a relationship with your customer and maintain a strong, long term, almost irreplaceable competitive edge.
A quick eleven point plan to customer journey mapping, this allows us to step into the customer shoes.
It shows us the customer’s perceptions and the larger context in which we play a part. It lets us be emerged in their world, their reality. Get a deeper insight into customer needs, perception, experience and motivation. It will answer questions like: What are people really trying to achieve? How are they trying to achieve this? What do they use and in what order? Why do they make a choice? What are they experiencing, feeling, while trying to reach the desired outcome?
A customer journey map is built up layer by layer. We start ‘above water’, with the customer and slowly dive deeper and deeper into the organisational structures and context. The tool can be used with customers or management, employees and other stakeholder or, even better, in a mix. The other important question which has to be answered is who holds the baton within a company and sets the creative direction?
A customer journey map in its simplest form will contain the following:
Via Mapping out customer experience excellence
1. Context or stakeholder map. We list all stakeholders and we order the hierarchy in circles of influences around the centre, where you are. When working with customers you’ll have the customer in the centre.
2. Persona. We need a rich customer profile or persona. Describe his/her personal and business situation now (present situation) and in the future (ambitions).
3. Outcomes. A description of his/ her desired outcome – what is he/she trying to achieve?
4. Customer journey. We list all actions (as far as possible) the customer has to take to reach the outcome (placed in a horizontal line).
5. Touchpoints. Underneath every action we list all channels and touchpoints services the customer encounter. Not just yours! This way you’ll discover the landscape you are in from the customer’s perception.
6. Moments of truth. Then we identify the moments the customer encounters your touchpoints and channels. We start focus on those (you can move them down a bit). Identify the most important ‘moments of truth’.
7. Service delivery. Underneath every touch point, we write down who delivers the service. Who is directly responsible for it (e.g. front office personal)?
8. Emotional journey. Then give every vertical line a grade for the experience (Actions -> touch point -> who delivers the service -> grade). Don’t grade the functionality, grade the work. For the emotion, how do you think the customer felt at that moment? Use a scale from 0 to 10. The higher the number, the better the experience. This can be visualised (e.g. by a line going up and down), and is very effective as a conversation starter. It can often be a real eye-opener.
9. Blueprint. Now, to make a long story a bit shorter, we can go on listing the organisation underneath, writing down who supports the people delivering the service (backoffice), and in turn who influences the back office (we link back to the stakeholders map), until we have a complete organisational blueprint, a complete picture of the working of an organisation and emotional journey, from the outside in.
10. Improve and innovate. Use creative, brainstorming and any other ideation techniques for the service opportunities you identified (low grades) and/or design complete new and ideal journeys or services. This usually is the moment people have the most fun. I have been surprised many times by the talent and eagerness of people to engage in this creative process. People are usual a lot more creative than you think. We just need to put them in the right situation and mood.
11. Music affects shoppers’ ‘tempo’ in-store music communicates with our hearts and minds. It serves as a powerful connection in our emotions. Music is versatile, it has the ability to relax or invigorate.
Music is memorable, it can transport us in an instant to places we want to be (Ortiz, 1997).By understanding the demographics and psychographics of its target market, retailers can create an audio environment where their customers feel comfortable, relaxed and happy to spend time and money. The use of carefully selected music creates an immediate distinction for a retail brand by establishing the right mood. Music can motivate the subconscious and create a first and lasting impression.
In “The Power of Music and it’s Influence on International Retail Brands and Shopper Behaviour: A Multi-Case Study Approach” Michael Morrison of Monash University looks to determine the role that music plays in shaping retail brand and its impact on shopping behaviour. Read the full study here
With a team of music specialists drawing on 14 million tracks, Immedia provide turnkey music solutions for some of the biggest names on the high street.
To deliver your music strategy they work with you to amplify your brand values and commercial objectives. They examine socio-demographic groups within your existing customer base and evaluate day-part cognitive behaviour.
From this they create The Sound of Your Brand – a music strategy that shapes mood and stimulates vista. Your music strategy will provide an enriched experience for your environment and customers.
