- Customer Journey
- The customer's complete experience from first contact to advocacy. Your most important tool for finding friction.
Customer Journey in Practice
Standard Customer Journey Phases
| Phase | Customer's Question | Typical Touchpoints |
|---|---|---|
| Awareness | "Who are they?" | Ad, Google search, recommendation |
| Consideration | "Are they right for me?" | Website, reviews, sales conversation |
| Purchase | "How do I buy?" | Checkout, proposal, contract |
| Onboarding | "How do I use it?" | Welcome email, setup guide, CSM meeting |
| Usage | "Does it meet my needs?" | Product, support, updates |
| Retention | "Should I continue?" | Renewal dialog, loyalty benefits |
| Advocacy | "Would I recommend them?" | Referral, review, testimonial |
The biggest problem with most journey maps is that they are built on internal assumptions. They show what the organisation believes the customer experiences, not what the customer actually experiences. Therefore, use VoC data to validate your map. The surprises always come.
Customer Journey and VoC
Link your VoC measurements directly to Customer Journey phases:
- Awareness/Consideration: Brand survey, NPS for leads
- Purchase: Transactional CSAT
- Onboarding: CES and CSAT for the onboarding experience
- Usage: Quarterly NPS (relational)
- Retention: Health Score + NPS
- Advocacy: NPS + Promoter activation
Emotional Journey Mapping
The most advanced Customer Journey Maps include the customer's emotional curve: a visualization of how the customer's emotional state (positive, neutral, negative) varies across touchpoints. Consequently, the touchpoints that significantly lower the curve are the most important ones to address.
Pain Points vs. Moments of Delight
A good Customer Journey Map identifies both extremes:
- Pain points: Friction, confusion, frustration, prioritize eliminating these
- Moments of delight: Positive surprises that create Promoters, identify and replicate these
Frequently Asked Questions
A touchpoint with disproportionate impact on loyalty. It is where the customer tests whether you live up to your promise: the first support enquiry, the first invoice, the onboarding experience. These are the moments where you win or lose the customer.
An effective Customer Journey Mapping workshop requires representation from all customer-facing functions: sales, marketing, customer service, product development, and IT. Consider including real customers or VoC data to anchor the mapping in actual customer experience rather than internal assumptions.
Want to measure Customer Journey?