HOW CORNER POINT IS BECOMING ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT ANGLES ON THE CUSTOMER JOURNEY MAP
In the world of animation, the motion editor is very instrumental in determining the shape of the individual properties that make up the frame between images. These frames are known as in-betweeners or tweeners- the hallmark of animation, involving continuous motion or shape change of static objects. Animations have been of increasing importance in today’s entertainment world and have thus been stored in media formats such as flipbook, motion picture film, video tape or digital media. Painting the growing importance of animation in numbers- only six films have grossed $500 million dollars or more at the worldwide box office in 2013 and three of these are animated. This feat in animation would have not been possible without these properties that make up the frames- they are either corner points or curve points in nature. The effects of corner points lead to an angle and while that of curve point form a smooth curve. The smooth curve is a line that is not required to be straight while the angle as a product of a corner point as viewed by Euclid the famous Greek mathematician, as the meeting together of two straight lines while Proclus a Greek Neo-Platonist philosopher says an angle must either be a quantity, quality or relationship. The word angle comes from the Latin word angulus, meaning ‘a corner.’ Okay, this might be getting you a bit irritated or critical as to where this is headed towards- a pit hole or a just a pit for now?
We have briefly looked at the place of a corner point in animation and now would see how this applies in the world of football. The corner point in football was introduced in 1867 in Sheffield. This is the part of the field where the corner kick is taken and corner kick is a method of restarting the game. The corner point in football forms an angle, similar to the work of animation. The corner kick is normally awarded to the attacking team when the ball leaves the field of play by going across the goal line. A corner kick is considered to be a considerable goal scoring opportunity. A Corner kick is normally awarded when the assistant referee signals with a raising of the flag to the corner point and the referee awards the corner by pointing to the relevant arc.
‘How does the corner point and angle relate to the customer journey map?’ I could hear you asking with obvious curiosity and scepticism. I would narrate a personal customer journey experience I had, how I got to a corner point, touch point and how that became a turning point. I love running and have done a couple of marathons but have been unable to run recently due to the fact that I lost my Nike dri-fit hat and gloves. My customer journey mapping began with browsing through sports online shops. It was now Friday and I needed to buy a pair of Nike dri-fit gloves and hats for my Saturday morning run, the next day. I thought within myself, that if I purchase one online on Friday it would not arrive early enough for my morning run. Then, I continued my customer journey by dropping by at my local sports direct store in Croydon, London. Advanced through the doors with much doubt in finding the hats and gloves- met a bubbly and friendly staff who approached me and I told her what I was after. She walked me to the running accessory section and then pointed to different hats and gloves on display. I spent approximately three minutes looking through all the hats and gloves- then realised my preferred kits were not in stock. I hit a corner point, an angle where two lines meet together- contemplating what next to do- going to the competition or shopping online. At this point, this very observant sales agent, who met me earlier, noticed I was at a corner point, on my customer journey map and like a football referee she pointed or referred me to a bigger sport direct store within five meters that I never knew existed. Continued my journey and arrived at the store – met by very friendly staff and was then directed to the running section where I found my choice dri-fit hat and gloves.
Customer journey maps are becoming more complex with increasing and varied touch points, but from my experience, corner point is a very important angle on the map. Utilising an analogy from the world of animation and football- corner points are areas where a halt is brought to a play or a junction in animation. What a company does at the corner point, touch point, could make or mar the customer’s journey. The corner point is an area where a customer halts or takes a pause in the customer journey, it could be due to the fact that what they are after is not in stock, long queue or high price. What a business does during that span of time is vital, like a referee the business through interaction needs to refer the customer to one of her other channel (online, telesales) or store. The staffs need to be observant in other to identify a customer at a corner point in their CJM and act swiftly to continue the play and hopefully score a goal from corner flank.
Remember shops that are situated at the corner points are called corner shops because people halt and aggregate a lot around that touch point either to board a bus, park a car or pick up a friend. Customers are considering alternatives when they halt during a customer journey, learn to make your product /service not just an option but a cornerstone.
