The 5-Step Guide To Successful Customer Journey Management
New technologies are changing the face of customer service. Tech-savvy customers are always connected and expect service from an increasing number of channels. Social media has given customers a voice, enabling them to disparage or promote organizations in a heartbeat.
A recent customer survey conducted by NICE found that customers are using on average 5.8 channels to communicate with their service providers. Whether it is via email, IVR, phone or social media, customers are communicating through a number of channels in an increasingly unpredictable way.
At NICE we have identified 5 key steps to help organizations with the strategy, tools, and tips required to utilize customer journey maps, putting the customer at the heart of the organization.
THE 5-STEP GUIDE TO SUCCESSFUL CUSTOMER JOURNEY MANAGEMENT
1. UNDERSTAND EACH INTERACTION
Before starting to make sense of the end-to-end customer journey, it is important to take a step back and get a clear picture of what makes up customer experience.
In an attempt to increase customer engagement and reduce operational costs, organizations have been expanding the channels of communication and engagement available to their customers. But each customer interaction needs to be properly tracked to understand its impact on the customer experience.
By integrating all interactions into customer journey maps, a culture of customer-centricity will arise and organizations will begin to understand the true customer journey in its entirety.
2. CONNECT THE MULTI-CHANNEL JOURNEY
With data collected from every touch point, organizations will be able to move on to the next step in optimizing their customer journey maps – connecting the interactions.
Customer identities and behaviors across every touch point form a complete view of the multi-channel journey at the individual and aggregate levels.
An intuitive and holistic understanding of the journey experience will yield analysis into journey flows, enable identification of patterns and trends, and highlight pain points which provide the foundation of customer experience programs.
3. DERIVE INSIGHTS
When measuring interactions, connecting the data is only half the challenge. The real insights can be derived from the details and emotion behind the journey.
Traditional analytics tools are able to process only structured data, such as transactions, but have limited or no ability when it comes to unstructured data, such as speech or texting. Organizations should employ a more sophisticated analytics tool that can unlock both structured and unstructured data, in order to get crucial insights into customer journeys.
4. OPERATIONALIZE
This step is arguably the most crucial for creating perfect customer journeys – taking the insights and lessons learnt and operationalizing them by making them available and actionable to the relevant teams in real-time. Providing relevant customer journey information to employees will give them insights into observed customer behavior, identifying issues such as potential churn risk and up-sell opportunities in real time.
Further insights can be gleaned from patterns and persona mapping, which can automatically anticipate customer needs and predict future actions.
5. CONTINUOUSLY LEARN AND IMPROVE
As insights are being operationalized, organizations will begin to see the benefits of real-time engagement. Customer loyalty will increase as quick solutions to their problems are offered, and they increasingly feel that the organization knows and understands their needs.
CONCLUSION
With a well-implemented customer journey mapping system in place, organizations are well equipped to provide customers with a differentiated CX. That means service which is personalized, relevant and provided in real time.
The key to a successful CX program is empowerment.
Empowering…
- Customers, by giving them the ability to jump across channels and still obtain a seamless experience.
- Employees, by guiding them with relevant data and the right tools to ensure success.
- Organizations, with the ability to put the customer at the core of every business decision: leading the “customer revolution”.
The time to bring customers into the heart of the organization is now. Make them feel understood, appreciated, and heard by optimizing their journeys and experiences. 
About NICE Systems
NICE Systems (NASDAQ: NICE) is the worldwide leading provider of software solutions that enable organizations to take the next best action in order to improve customer experience and business results, ensure compliance, fight financial crime, and safeguard people and assets. NICE’s solutions empower organizations to capture, analyze, and apply, in real time, insights from both structured and unstructured Big Data. This data comes from multiple sources, including phone calls, mobile apps, emails, chat, social media, video, and transactions. NICE solutions are used by over 25,000 organizations in more than 150 countries, including over 80 of the Fortune 100 companies. www.nice.com.