Improving your customer journey in a targeted manner: from a vision to testable and tangible results Published on Marketingfacts

"Dear bunqer, we did it. As of today, we entrepreneurs can also use bunq for banking transactions :)! […] We are very curious to hear what you have to say. Have any specific wishes? Let us know and we'll build it for you :D! Spread the love, let’s bunq together, Ali." A mail with a new update from bunq, "the new bank", regularly pops up in my inbox.

The start-up has clearly understood how the iteration process works, immediately adapting its existing customer experience based on customer feedback.  So how can your corporate organisation match the standards of this type of start-up while also improving your customer journey in a more targeted way?

Because you might be sorely tempted to go down the path of random innovation. An experiment here, a pilot there… there’ll be some quick wins, which is bound to be satisfying. But in the long term, the satisfaction will dwindle and you will lose sight of “the bigger picture“. Because how does this contribute to your overall customer experience? And which interaction do you really want to have with your customers?

Start by having a customer service vision

In effect, you have skipped two steps. Having a customer service vision is crucial when it comes to prioritising the touchpoints with the highest customer and business value. What is really relevant for my customer? And how can I distinguish myself from my competitors? What ties in with my brand values? Once you have answered all these questions, you can be sure that any changes you make are effective and that your activities will be endorsed by the levels above you in the organisation. In short, having a vision helps you make the right choices when optimising customer service. This doesn’t take months to implement. A few intensive sessions are enough to shape these frameworks.

Bright House Networks’s vision on customer service means they consider their customers as friends. You don’t sign a contract with friends.

A good example of a targeted customer service vision is that of the American telecom company Bright House Networks, in the book “CEX Sells” by my colleagues Beate and Deborah. Bright House Networks’s customer service vision means they consider their customers as friends. You don’t sign a contract with friends. And friends can always call each other, even in the middle of the night. What’s more, friends also help each other, which is why Bright House Networks has posted plenty of instructive videos online. These are all touchpoints in the customer journey that contribute to their customer service vision.

Measuring the impact on your business targets

You have set yourself a goal. But before you can start building, you have one more important step to cover: identifying the touchpoints with the greatest impact. A few years ago, we at VODW developed a method to link the impact of specific touchpoints throughout the various phases of the customer journey to business targets, such as loyalty or brand perception. Instead of measuring the NPS of every touchpoint we look at the overall experience.

By linking the relative impact of every touchpoint to the business targets, you can immediately see which touchpoints have a (strong) positive or negative impact. It also helps you determine which things your organisation must change imperatively. For example, a telecom organisation might find that customers are really happy that you send them a technician but that the NPS is much higher – and the cost much lower when they solve the problem themselves based on online instructions.

#customer journey #customer-oriented innovation #design thinking

So now you have a vision and have mapped the touchpoints… What’s next?

The previous phases are interesting, but they are theoretical, conceptual exercises. There are thousands of ways of tackling a specific touchpoint in the customer journey. In essence, these all tie in with your vision and customers’ needs. So high time to fill the gap between strategy and execution. Find out how in my article on Marketingfacts.