One More Journey Mapping Mistake

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Are you making this mistake when journey mapping?

We already know that people are making mistakes when they’re journey mapping. I’ve outlined several of them in past posts:

5 Myths of Journey Mapping, in which I wrote about:

  1. I’ve mapped; I’m done.
  2. One map applies to all customers; all customers are the same.
  3. I don’t need personas; I can simply map for major customer segments.
  4. Marketing has the same mapping needs as CX.
  5. Data has no place in journey maps.

6 Bonus Myths of Journey Mapping, in which I wrote about:

  1. I’ve mapped the journey myself; I don’t need to involve anyone else.
  2. We created an assumptive map and are ready to redesign the experience.
  3. It’s OK to start with a future state map.
  4. Buyer personas and CX personas are one and the same.
  5. Journey maps are used only for the customer experience.
  6. Without a digital mapping platform, I can’t even begin to map.

A recent post I wrote about the mistakes people make when they journey map, You Aren’t Journey Mapping, addresses the issues of:

  1. Thinking lifecycle and touchpoint maps are journey maps.
  2. Creating an assumptive map, which I mentioned above, but not really; it’s more of a process map.

But there’s one more mistake that I need to mention. (There are probably others that I’ll write about in the future, as I uncover them). I’ve seen this issue come up, and I’m not quite sure how it happens. (I do know; it just seems like a no-brainer, but so do many of the other mistakes.) But it proves the principle that CX professionals must always adhere to: you must have executive commitment before you begin down your CX transformation path.

Here’s the problem I’m talking about: There’s no budget available for, or committed to, making changes or improvements that are uncovered during the journey mapping process.

If you’re going into the journey mapping process to get executive commitment for your CX transformation, that’s one thing; but if you’ve got commitment from above yet cannot get the impacted departments to pony up budget and resources to fix the issues, then something has gone wrong. Here are some questions to consider:

  • Who identified the issue/experience to be mapped?
  • Were stakeholders involved in conversations prior to the journey mapping workshop?
  • Did you discuss the impact and the outcomes of the journey you were mapping (with stakeholders)?
  • Did you discuss how the findings would be used (with stakeholders)?
  • Was there any discussion about priorities, budget, resources, etc. before the workshop was planned/designed?
  • Who was involved in the journey mapping workshops? Which stakeholders?
  • Did you debrief with the attendees (internal/stakeholders) after the workshop?

No woman/man is an island. And that couldn’t be more true than in customer experience transformation work. You’ve got to partner with the various departments in your organization, and you have to have the right stakeholders involved from the start of this whole journey mapping process. While feedback from customers or employees may have driven the identification of the journey to be mapped, if stakeholders aren’t involved, if owners aren’t assigned, if there’s no plan beforehand for how findings will be used afterward, you’re setting yourself up for failure.

Get commitment for resources – human, time, capital, financial, etc. – from the stakeholders before you conduct the journey mapping workshop with customers. Get commitment that they will use the findings to make improvements. Get commitment that they will do the work immediately/in a timely manner. If you haven’t done this, don’t bother mapping; you’re wasting everyone’s time.

Image courtesy of Pixabay.

Republished with author's permission from original post.

Annette Franz
Annette Franz is founder and Chief Experience Officer of CX Journey Inc. She is an internationally recognized customer experience thought leader, coach, consultant, and speaker. She has 25+ years of experience in helping companies understand their employees and customers in order to identify what makes for a great experience and what drives retention, satisfaction, and engagement. She's sharing this knowledge and experience in her first book, Customer Understanding: Three Ways to Put the "Customer" in Customer Experience (and at the Heart of Your Business).

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