March 24, 2020
The Importance of Customer Journeys During Turbulent Times
Earlier, we discussed the importance for organizations to consider their architecture to enable them to efficiently ramp-down and ramp-up during turbulent times. Now, we need to consider the impact of turbulent times on the organization’s Customer Data Journey.
As with Heisenberg’s Uncertainty Principle, moments of turbulent times impact the Customer Journey. This is true for B2B and B2C alike. Often, the changes brought about by turbulent events remain post the period of uncertainty. Organizations that have the foresight to truly understand their Customer Data Journeys pre-turbulent times and the changes during the turbulent times are well equipped to adjust and adapt processes and systems post-turbulent times to create and delight during the ramp-up period.
Many CRM solutions and CCE systems have some Customer Journey capabilities built in. These are an excellent first step to gaining an understanding from a Marketing perspective how customers interact with the organization and how best to provide personalized experiences. Unfortunately, this only touches a very small section of the data customers generate through their interactions with organizations. A holistic view of these interactions through all systems provides organizations with an unparalleled view of not only external marketing content but also how information flows through MDM, ERP, Supply Chain, CRM, CCE, etc.
During turbulent times, customers are bound to adjust their interactions, which will impact ALL systems of the organization. The Customer Data Journey will not only enable the organization to observe how these changes manifested themselves and what impact they had on the systems, but more importantly, how these changes have created friction points along the Customer Data Journey. During the ramp-up period, successful organizations identify friction points along the Customer Data Journey and take steps to change or implement technology and processes.
The best way forward to address the newly created friction points is to have a well-grounded Use Case Development process. In this case, Use Cases need to go beyond the generic understanding of the term. Clearly understanding the opportunity from a systems, process, impact, and customer orientation is imperative. The success of the friction point solution is directly related to the quality of the Use Case Development process and subsequent MVP and implementation.
Successful organizations often seek assistance during turbulent times. This enables leaders and managers to express the desired end state, and have objective guidance along the way, all the while, they can concentrate on what is imperative during the period of uncertainty. Smart organizations plan for the ramp-up and they seek expertise to quickly capitalize during this period, while ensuring that their primary focus is employee and customer well-being.
Kristian Gravelle
Director, Digital Transformation
