Map Your Customer Journey to Offer a Better Customer Experience and Improve Customer Loyalty

Recently, I stayed at a Hotel in Bangalore when I went there on a business trip. They serve breakfast as a part of the stay, and I always look forward to my breakfast, irrespective of whether I am at home or I stay in a hotel.

So, after my workout in the morning and a refreshing shower, I headed to the restaurant. I loved the menu spread. I was told that Masala Dosa was part of the menu and it would be served at the table.

So, I ordered a Masala Dosa and waited for it to be served while I quietly had my fresh juice. I waited, waited, and waited – the Masala Dosa wasn’t coming.

I reminded the service person a couple of times. Still, it wasn’t coming.

I was thinking of having a coffee after the Dosa. After about 25 minutes of waiting, I decided to skip the rest of the breakfast and headed to my room.

On my way to the room, I told the person at the reception I was dissatisfied with the restaurant’s service. He apologized, and he didn’t know what else to say.

I moved on.

In about 5 minutes, someone was at my door with a Masala Dosa and a small flask of Coffee.

The person apologized for the inconvenience and served me the Dosa and Coffee in my room. He even suggested that I let him know if I needed anything else to be fetched from the restaurant.

Would You Rate the Overall Experience as Lousy Service or Excellent Service?

It began as a lousy service and ended up as excellent. The fact that they listened to their customer and immediately acted on it is an aspect that should be appreciated.

Bill Gates once famously said, “Your most unhappy customers are your greatest source of learning.”

Often, people don’t complain at all. 95% of the customers remain unhappy and move on from your brand.

In this scenario, how do you get your CX right?

Gauging the customer’s perspective is essential to understanding their experience with the brand. This is the only way you can address the complaints at the root and provide continuous improvements in the service delivery.

Importance of Mapping the Customer Journey

It is essential to map the customer journey and their interactions. This would allow you to evaluate and improve the overall customer experience. Customer journey mapping will let you be in your customers’ shoes and help identify gaps in the service. Besides, it would cover even the unstated needs of the customers, and by understanding, you can personalize the service for the customers.

How is it applicable to the situation that I explained above?

The place where I stayed is a functional business hotel. There isn’t much for recreation or activities, and my interactions with the brand are straightforward. I use the room and the restaurant. Maybe If I stay there for more than three days, there is a likelihood of me using their bar.

There are only three points of interaction for me. There are 20 variables in the room, about 20 variables in the restaurant and 10 in the bar that could go wrong. So, the customer journey mapping here is straightforward, and avoiding the possible flaws is relatively simple.

Handling these variables requires effective coordination, communication, training, and empathy across your entire workforce.

How do you map your customer journey, and how many variables are there for you to handle?

Whether you are big or small, transforming the customer experience (CX) will allow you to succeed. This is why 70 percent of senior executives rank CX as a top priority for the coming years.

According to Mckinsey, companies that effectively manage and organize customer experience can realize a 20 percent improvement in customer satisfaction, a 15 percent increase in sales conversion, a 30 percent lower cost-to-serve, and a 30 percent increase in employee engagement.