You’ve done your research. You know there are numerous benefits to using Customer Journey Mapping as part of your customer experience transformation toolbox; you’re just not quite sure when is the best time to use it. Mapping the entire customer journey may be too big, mapping a single touchpoint may be too small, but focusing on a single Moment of Truth is just right.
A Moment of Truth represents a turning point in the customer relationship. Perhaps the customer has filled out a loan application, or they are waiting in line to purchase a sweater, or it’s the first time they are calling your customer service center. A Moment of Truth isn’t so big that it will overwhelm your customer experience team, but it matters enough to enough of your customers to have meaningful business impact. Focusing on a particular Moment of Truth is the best way to either fix something that is terribly broken or create something boldly unique for your industry.
There are three ways to select the best Moment of Truth to give your attention to:
1. Your Customer Experience Strategy
If you have already done work on your customer experience strategy you should have a basic framework in place regarding how you make decisions on customer experience improvements. We refer to the “Guiding Principles” – the lens that you will use to look at future business decisions around things like funding, product development, training, or technology. If you have determined your Guiding Principles than you should already be in a good position to identify the best Moment of Truth for your team to focus on.
Many companies, however, need a quick win before senior leaders are willing to put time and money into defining and committing to the customer experience strategy. If you fall into this category then you should look to research you already have to identify the best Moment of Truth to focus on.
2. Existing Customer Feedback
If you are currently using Voice of the Customer software you already have access to a valuable pool of customer data. Analyzing this data will reveal the “key drivers” - the things that matter most to your customers. Low-performing, high-impact drivers present an opportunity for that quick win.
Quantitative data sources can also be substantiated with qualitative sources. Consumer focus groups or Client Advisory Boards (CABs) can provide a valuable pool of insights to guide your efforts. Talk to your customers about problems and issues they are facing, interview your best customers, ask them about things that matter most to them and you’ll start to uncover areas of your business in need of a closer look.
3. Employee Feedback
If you are not currently collecting customer feedback or are unsure about the quality of the data you do have, remember you always have a wealth of customer insights at your fingertips – it’s your employees. A poor customer experience will translate into more customer problems, these customer problems inevitably become employee problems when frustrated customers come looking for help. In-depth interviews with front-line employees are one way to mine employee insight on the customer experience.
Another approach is to talk to the people who are experts at delighting your customers. We know that every organization has Brand Ambassadors, internal employees who regularly go above and beyond for customers. Brand Ambassadors are often acutely aware of internal barriers hurting the customer experience (and how to overcome them). They genuinely care about helping customers and are personally invested in making your customers successful. If you can find these individuals they will be a valuable resource in better understanding the needs of your customers.
And finally, you can always go Undercover Boss style and just spend some time on the front lines. CEOs in the show are always astounded at the obvious things destroying the customer experience. You will likely find similar opportunities in your own organization that, with a little extra thought and attention, can dramatically improve the customer experience.
If you are early on in your customer experience transformation journey, your focus should be on fixing the breakpoints that consistently destroy the customer experience. Then, as you progress on your journey, Customer Journey Mapping becomes a valuable tool to create a differentiated experience, as does customer experience management software. Because the goal of transformation is never to be “ok.” The goal is to be consistently great.
~Janessa Lantz
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