A customer journey is the path a customer takes while interacting with a business, ideally en route to a purchase. It often consists of multiple touchpoints across multiple channels. For example, a customer might see an ad for a product on TV, call the 1-800 number to find out more information, think about it for a couple of days, and then go online to make a purchase. A customer journey map is a visual representation of this journey from the customer's perspective, which means it not only includes quantitative data, but also information about the customer's goals for the journey and what she's thinking and feeling along the way.
Customer journey maps take different forms - they might be swim lanes on a spreadsheet or a flow chart. There isn't any right or wrong format. What's important is that the customer journey map clearly depicts the multiple touchpoints across the journey in a way that viewers of the map can understand the experience from the customer's viewpoint. This includes highlighting significant details such as rough transitions between channels, barriers to making purchases, and inferior experiences in specific touchpoints.
Customer journeys are unique and nonlinear. Because of this, it would be impossible (and probably unhelpful) to map every possible scenario. In response, organizations may create typical customer journey maps for their customer personas, or they might map out the most common journeys. Customer journey maps need to provide actionable information and companies that take this type of approach are avoiding the "analysis paralysis" that comes with too much nonvital information. This allows them to, instead, focus on making improvements to the journey, such as increasing agents product knowledge or revamping the online checkout process.
Organizations that go through the process of creating customer journey maps can gain much insight into what their customers are experiencing. When done right, it's a worthwhile effort.
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