Mapping out and improving your customer journey is typically a complex process with multiple customer types (all with differing needs), a multitude of touchpoints and underlying business processes. Not to mention the data and technology needs that underpin it as well.
From what we’ve observed at AFFINITY, many organisations then typically fall into one of two camps:
Big Picture
Breaking down CX processes at a topline level. There’s probably a very nice PowerPoint deck with some lovely icons in it, but nothing particularly useful or actionable has been identified. Any initiatives that are implemented may ultimately be based more on gut feel than those that will deliver business outcomes.
Micro Focused
This group is going in the complete opposite direction. They’re getting way too detailed and caught up in the minutiae. The actions taken in this instance are often unfocused, resource intensive and have little to no impact.
Either way, both types of companies aren’t getting a good return on their CX investments.
Paul Hagen, a former Forrester CX analyst stated that up to 75% of all CX initiatives fail because most organisations aren’t agile enough to respond to customer demands. But this only tells part of the story. In our experience there are many potential issues at play.
- Lack of behavioural change principles
- Absence of a relevant engagement strategy
- Focus on a superficial qualitative understanding rather than actual data
- Focus on surprise and delight without considering actual business impact
- No consideration of people (you know, the ones who need to deliver the experience) and internal processes
- Poor understanding of technology requirements, or conversely, too much focus on this
- Lack of alignment with the business strategy & vision
- No alignment with a brand narrative
- A focus on improving a CX score at the expense of everything else
- Data paralysis arising from having too much data and not knowing where to begin
At AFFINITY, we’re big believers in identifying and focusing on the key moments that matter. The points in the customer journey that create the biggest impact. And the thing is, they’re often not the moments you might expect. They’re certainly not the ones you’ll find if you’re only looking at a portion of the overall picture.
We’ve developed a proprietary methodology that helps us to cut through organisational silos and identify the most critical moments across three linked areas:
- Moments that benefit the business (e.g. process improvements)
- Moments that improve the employee experience, whether tangible or intangible
- Moments that will most improve the customer experience (e.g. fix a pain point)
Through looking at the whole of business, we’re then also able to identify any potential blockers and enablers for success of those moments. Quite often, these solutions aren’t necessarily costly or difficult to implement, just not obvious without doing the thinking.
Finally, in order to ensure success of any given change, it’s essential to ensure you have relevant stakeholder buy-in through collaborative sessions where you can review and prioritise the ‘moments that matter’ with proper consultation.
It’s an approach that’s seen AFFINITY help deliver some truly business transforming outcomes for the organisations we’re working with, including:
- After identifying the critical moment in the sales funnel as the call that occurred after a lead form completion, we introduced a new, more relevant call centre script. This led to a 37% increase in call centre conversions, and a better customer experience.
- From a business efficiency perspective, we reviewed a client’s legacy channel strategies (which the business thought were their most profitable), ultimately discovering they were inefficient and unprofitable. This resulted in savings on customer acquisition of around $4m annually.
The moments that matter are different for every organisation, and we love nothing more than helping you find them. If you’d like to learn more about our proprietary methodology, or have a particular CX challenge you’re trying to solve, we’d love to talk. Get in touch via will.n@affinity.ad
