Creating a Roadmap for Improvements

Once you’ve identified and prioritized the areas that need attention in the customer journey, the next step is to create a roadmap for implementing these improvements. A well-structured roadmap provides a clear path forward, outlining the necessary actions, timelines, and resources required to enhance the customer experience. It serves as both a guide for execution and a communication tool for aligning teams across the organization.

Here’s how to create an effective roadmap for improvements:

Define Clear Objectives

Before outlining specific actions, it’s important to establish the objectives of the improvement efforts. These objectives should be tied to both customer outcomes and business goals. For example, objectives could include:

• Reducing customer drop-off at key touchpoints.
• Enhancing the personalization of customer interactions.
• Increasing customer satisfaction by improving post-purchase support.

Clearly defined objectives provide direction and a way to measure the success of your improvements.

Break Down Improvements into Phases

Implementing improvements in phases allows for better management of resources and monitoring progress. Phases should be organized by priority, with high-impact, low-effort actions tackled first, followed by more complex or long-term improvements. Phasing the roadmap allows for early wins, which can help build momentum for the project.

Typical phases may include:

• Quick Wins: Small, easy-to-implement actions that can deliver immediate improvements with minimal effort, such as optimizing an FAQ page or streamlining checkout steps.
• Medium-term Actions: More significant changes that require moderate time and resources, like integrating a new CRM system or redesigning key touchpoints in the customer journey.
• Long-term Strategic Initiatives: Major transformations that will take longer to implement, such as launching a new customer loyalty program or building new features into the product.

Assign Ownership and Resources

For each improvement initiative, assign a specific owner or team responsible for its execution. Clearly defining accountability ensures that each action has a champion to drive progress and make decisions. Additionally, identify the necessary resources—whether budget, technology, or personnel—that will be required for successful implementation.

Consider:

• Internal team members (e.g., marketing, customer service, IT).
• External partners or vendors (e.g., software providers, consultants).
• The budget allocation for each initiative.

Set Timelines and Milestones

Establishing realistic timelines and milestones is critical to keeping the improvement roadmap on track. Each phase or action should have a start and end date, along with key milestones to track progress. Timelines should take into account the complexity of the actions, resource availability, and potential dependencies (e.g., waiting on a technology upgrade before launching a new feature).

A typical roadmap timeline might include:

• Immediate actions (1–3 months).
• Short-term actions (3–6 months).
• Long-term actions (6–12 months or beyond).

Integrate Feedback Loops

Customer journey improvements should be informed by ongoing feedback and data. To ensure continuous improvement, integrate feedback loops into your roadmap. This might include regular customer surveys, feedback from customer-facing teams, or performance metrics from your website or customer service channels.

Establish checkpoints where the team can:

• Evaluate whether changes are having the desired impact.
• Make adjustments based on new data or customer feedback.
• Iterate on solutions that need further refinement.

Monitor and Measure Success

Define key performance indicators (KPIs) to measure the success of each improvement action. These KPIs should align with the objectives you set at the beginning and provide clear insight into how well the changes are working. Common KPIs include:

• Customer satisfaction (CSAT) or Net Promoter Score (NPS).
• Conversion rates.
• Customer retention rates.
• Reduced customer churn.
• Improved task completion rates in the customer journey (e.g., successful checkouts, fewer abandoned carts).

Regularly reviewing these metrics will allow you to adjust the roadmap as needed to stay on course and ensure that the improvements are delivering value.

Communicate the Roadmap Across Teams

Successful implementation of the roadmap requires buy-in and collaboration across different departments, from marketing to product development to customer service. Use the roadmap as a communication tool to align everyone on priorities, timelines, and responsibilities. Regular updates and progress reports will help keep all stakeholders informed and engaged.

Creating a roadmap for customer journey improvements helps ensure that efforts are organized, focused, and achievable. By breaking down the process into phases, assigning responsibilities, setting realistic timelines, and tracking progress, businesses can execute a structured plan that leads to meaningful enhancements in customer experience. This not only drives customer satisfaction but also supports long-term business growth.

Analyzing customer journey maps provides key insights that guide strategic improvements to enhance customer experiences, marketing, and growth.

Using Customer Journey Maps for Business Strategy

A well-documented customer journey can have wide-reaching impacts on business strategy, particularly in the areas of customer experience, marketing, and growth.

Improving Customer Experience

Identifying Gaps in the Customer Experience

Regarding Ansira post, “Forrester determined years ago that we are in the “age of the customer” where expectations constantly increase, and businesses must be customer obsessed to succeed. This is supported by a Salesforce report in which 84% of customers said the experience a company provides is as important as its products and services. A whopping 92% of participants in a Gladly survey indicated they would abandon a company after just 1 to 3 bad experiences. To put it simply, CX should be ranked at the top of your company priority list.”

When analyzing customer journeys, identifying gaps in the experience is essential to improving satisfaction. These gaps often manifest as friction points that frustrate customers but don’t always generate formal complaints. For instance, only a fraction of dissatisfied customers will take the time to report their issues, while many quietly churn. These silent issues can be uncovered through comprehensive customer journey audits, which focus on evaluating every interaction, from initial contact to post-purchase follow-ups. By mapping customer behaviors and pain points across the entire journey, businesses can reveal bottlenecks and inefficiencies, such as confusing website navigation or delays in customer service response times. Pinpointing these gaps helps prioritize necessary improvements that can have an outsized impact on customer loyalty and overall satisfaction​.

Implementing Changes to Enhance Customer Satisfaction

Regarding McKinsey & Company article, “For companies to succeed—and outperform their peers—in this environment of constant change, a culture of customer-centricity is critical. It calls for action across three levels: build aspirations anchored in purpose, take a comprehensive approach to transforming the business, and establish critical enablers that support and speed the transformation.”

Once gaps in the customer experience are identified, the next step is to implement changes that improve satisfaction. This process requires a structured approach, such as focusing on the areas that yield the greatest impact, like improving the customer onboarding process or streamlining customer service interactions. Effective implementation hinges on not just fixing immediate touchpoints but considering the entire journey, ensuring seamless transitions between stages. For example, updating product descriptions might resolve frequent customer inquiries, thereby reducing service calls and improving overall satisfaction scores​.

Creating a roadmap based on prioritized actions helps businesses strategically address these gaps, enhancing the experience at critical moments in the customer journey.

Optimizing Marketing Efforts

Tailoring Marketing Messages to Customer Needs

Regarding Simon-Kucher post, “Marketing communication plays a central role in shaping company growth and success.” It encompasses all of the messages and media used to convey a brand’s value and product offerings to its target audience. Effective marketing communication not only builds brand awareness but also fosters customer engagement and loyalty by delivering the right message through the proper channels.

Customer journey maps are powerful tools that help businesses tailor these marketing messages to specific customer needs. By analyzing how customers interact with a brand at various touchpoints, companies can craft more relevant and personalized marketing content. For instance, insights from journey maps can reveal which pain points or motivations resonate most with different customer segments, enabling marketers to adjust their messaging accordingly.

Integrated marketing communication (IMC) further strengthens this approach by unifying a brand’s messaging across all media platforms, ensuring that marketing communications—whether in advertising, public relations, or digital channels—are consistent and persuasive. This integration enhances the overall impact on the audience, ensuring customers receive a cohesive experience regardless of where they encounter the brand (Simon-Kucher, 2024).

Tailored marketing messages not only improve engagement but also boost conversion rates. For example, a customer in the research phase might respond best to informative content, while someone closer to making a purchase may prefer messages emphasizing convenience, pricing, or quality. Additionally, using journey maps helps marketers pinpoint where personalization can make a significant impact, such as offering targeted promotions based on past purchases or retargeting ads for abandoned carts​.

Moreover, journey maps allow businesses to align marketing messages across platforms, ensuring consistent communication throughout the customer experience. This cohesive messaging fosters stronger connections with customers and encourages them to progress through the purchasing funnel more smoothly. By addressing customer needs at each stage of the journey, businesses can create more effective, responsive, and customer-focused marketing strategies.

Creating effective customer acquisition and retention strategies

Regarding Zeda post, customer journey maps serve as vital tools for improving both customer acquisition and retention by offering a detailed view of customer behavior, preferences, and pain points. To create effective acquisition strategies, businesses can use these maps to identify key moments when prospects are most likely to engage with a brand and convert. By pinpointing common friction points—such as during the consideration or decision stages—companies can streamline these interactions, reducing barriers to entry. This can be achieved through targeted messaging, simplified purchasing processes, or personalized marketing tailored to specific segments.​(Zeda, June 2024)

For retention strategies, the journey map helps businesses focus on post-purchase experiences that ensure continued customer satisfaction and loyalty. Offering personalized post-sale communications, loyalty programs, and proactive support for potential issues fosters a sense of connection and trust. Furthermore, continuous engagement efforts, like tailored promotions or relevant content, help build long-term relationships with customers, turning them into brand advocates. (Andrew Reise, August 2024)

Driving Business Growth

A deep understanding of the customer journey can reveal untapped revenue opportunities and areas for expansion. Whether through better cross-selling, loyalty programs, or personalized service, businesses can grow by aligning their strategies with customer needs.

Identifying New Revenue Opportunities

Customer journey maps are not just tools for improving customer satisfaction—they are also powerful resources for uncovering new revenue streams. By analyzing the interactions and behaviors of different customer segments, businesses can identify unmet needs or underutilized services. For example, insights gained from the journey map might reveal that a particular customer segment consistently faces pain points at certain stages, such as shipping delays or lack of customization options. These pain points represent opportunities for introducing premium services, faster shipping, or personalized product recommendations that customers may be willing to pay extra for. (Andrew Reise, 2024)

Moreover, journey maps help businesses detect cross-selling and upselling opportunities. By understanding how and when customers make purchasing decisions, companies can position complementary products or services at critical points in the customer journey, thus increasing average transaction values. This strategic positioning can drive additional sales and boost overall profitability without needing to expand the customer base. (Zeda, 2024)

Increasing Customer Loyalty and Advocacy

In addition to identifying new revenue opportunities, customer journey maps play a significant role in fostering customer loyalty and advocacy. A well-mapped journey allows businesses to provide personalized, consistent experiences that align with customer expectations, building trust and long-term loyalty. For example, businesses can use journey maps to pinpoint critical moments where proactive customer support or follow-up communication would enhance the post-purchase experience. (Andrew Reise, 2024)

This kind of personalized attention not only increases retention rates but also turns satisfied customers into brand advocates.

Loyal customers are far more likely to refer others and share positive experiences, which organically boosts brand advocacy. By continuously refining the customer journey based on real-time feedback and data, businesses can create advocacy programs that reward loyal customers for sharing their experiences, ultimately driving new customer acquisition through word-of-mouth. (Zeda, 2024)

In summary, customer journey maps empower businesses to find innovative ways to grow revenue while nurturing long-lasting relationships that lead to increased customer loyalty and advocacy.

Tools and Software for Journey Mapping

Digital Tools

Creating effective customer journey maps relies on using the right tools to visualize experiences, gather insights, and foster collaboration among teams. Here are some of the most powerful digital tools available for journey mapping:

Smaply

Smaply is a dedicated journey mapping tool that enables teams to create detailed maps, personas, and stakeholder maps. It offers features that allow users to visualize the customer journey step-by-step while incorporating emotional indicators and touchpoints. The platform also facilitates collaboration, allowing teams to work together in real-time, making it easier to refine the journey based on collective insights. Smaply’s integration capabilities with data sources make it a strong choice for tracking key performance indicators (KPIs) linked to customer experiences. More information can be found on their website: https://www.smaply.com/

UXPressia

UXPressia is another powerful tool designed for journey mapping, persona development, and impact mapping. It features a user-friendly drag-and-drop interface, enabling quick creation of engaging and interactive maps. UXPressia allows teams to embed multimedia elements, ensuring that each touchpoint is rich with context. The tool excels in facilitating team collaboration and provides export options in multiple formats, making it easy to share findings across the organization. Learn more at https://uxpressia.com/

Miro

Miro is a versatile online collaborative whiteboard platform that has become popular for journey mapping due to its flexibility. It offers various templates, including options for journey mapping and brainstorming sessions. Miro’s collaborative features allow multiple users to contribute simultaneously, making it ideal for teams that practice agile methodologies. With integration capabilities for tools like Slack, Trello, and more, Miro enhances workflows and helps teams maintain alignment throughout their mapping efforts. Explore Miro at https://miro.com/

These tools enhance the journey mapping process by promoting collaboration, data integration, and visual representation of customer experiences. By leveraging these digital resources, businesses can gain deeper insights into their customers’ journeys, ultimately leading to improved satisfaction and loyalty.

Customer Relationship Management (CRM) Platforms.

Customer Relationship Management (CRM) platforms are essential for managing interactions with customers and analyzing data throughout the customer lifecycle. These tools not only help businesses streamline their sales and marketing processes but also play a significant role in journey mapping by providing insights into customer behaviors, preferences, and interactions. Here are some of the leading CRM platforms that facilitate effective journey mapping:

Salesforce

Salesforce is one of the most widely used CRM platforms globally, known for its robust features that support customer journey mapping and management. With Salesforce, businesses can track customer interactions across multiple touchpoints, including sales, support, and marketing channels. Its comprehensive dashboard allows users to visualize customer journeys and analyze key metrics related to engagement and satisfaction. Salesforce’s integration capabilities with various third-party applications further enhance its functionality, allowing teams to gather and analyze customer data effectively. Additionally, Salesforce offers tools like Journey Builder within Marketing Cloud, enabling marketers to design personalized customer journeys based on real-time data. More information is available at https://www.salesforce.com/eu/?ir=1

HubSpot

HubSpot is another popular CRM platform that provides a suite of tools for marketing, sales, and customer service. HubSpot’s CRM offers features that allow businesses to create detailed customer profiles and track interactions at every stage of the customer journey. The platform’s visual pipeline helps teams understand where customers are in their journey, enabling them to tailor their communications and strategies accordingly. HubSpot’s Marketing Hub includes workflows and automation tools that facilitate personalized engagement, ensuring that customers receive the right messages at the right time. HubSpot’s user-friendly interface makes it accessible for businesses of all sizes, and it offers a free tier for startups and small businesses. Learn more at https://www.hubspot.com/

Visualization Tools for Journey Mapping

Visualization tools play a critical role in creating effective customer journey maps by helping businesses represent complex data and customer interactions in a clear and engaging manner. These tools allow teams to collaborate, brainstorm, and communicate insights effectively. Here are some of the leading visualization tools that are widely used for journey mapping:

Lucidchart

Lucidchart is an intuitive online diagramming tool that excels in creating flowcharts, organizational charts, and customer journey maps. Its user-friendly interface and extensive library of templates make it easy for teams to visualize customer experiences and interactions. Lucidchart allows for real-time collaboration, enabling multiple users to work on the same map simultaneously, which is especially useful for cross-functional teams. The ability to integrate with other platforms like Google Workspace, Microsoft Office, and Atlassian products enhances its versatility, allowing teams to share and embed their journey maps seamlessly. More details can be found on https://www.lucidchart.com/pages/

Canva

Canva is a versatile graphic design tool that offers a wide range of templates for creating visually appealing customer journey maps. While it’s primarily known for its design capabilities, Canva provides features that allow users to create custom journey maps with ease. The drag-and-drop interface makes it accessible for users without a design background, enabling them to add images, icons, and text to represent different touchpoints in the customer journey. Canva also offers collaboration features, allowing teams to provide feedback and make adjustments in real time. Check out Canva at https://www.canva.com/

Analytics Tools for Journey Optimization

Analytics tools are essential for optimizing the customer journey by providing valuable insights into customer behavior, engagement patterns, and overall experience. These tools help businesses track key performance indicators (KPIs) and make data-driven decisions that enhance the customer journey. Here are some of the leading analytics tools that are widely used for journey optimization:

Google Analytics

Google Analytics is one of the most widely used web analytics tools, offering comprehensive insights into website traffic, user behavior, and conversion rates. It allows businesses to track how customers navigate through their sites, identify which pages are most effective at driving conversions, and understand drop-off points in the customer journey. With features like goal tracking, event tracking, and funnel visualization, Google Analytics provides valuable data that helps optimize the user experience and improve overall marketing strategies. Additionally, integrating Google Analytics with Google Data Studio enables businesses to create customized dashboards for deeper insights. More information is available at https://analytics.google.com/analytics/web/#/p213025502/reports/intelligenthome

Sprout Social

Sprout Social is a social media management and analytics tool that helps businesses understand how customers interact with their brand across various social media platforms. It offers insights into audience demographics, engagement metrics, and content performance, allowing companies to tailor their social media strategies based on customer behavior. By analyzing social media interactions, businesses can identify trends, customer sentiments, and pain points, which can be crucial for optimizing the customer journey. Sprout Social also provides reporting features that help teams measure the effectiveness of their campaigns and refine their approaches accordingly. Explore more at https://sproutsocial.com/

Customer Journey Mapping for Different Industries

Tailoring Journey Maps to Specific Sectors

Customer Journey Mapping is not a one-size-fits-all solution. In this chapter, you’ll find both theoretical insights and examples crafted by industry professionals, demonstrating how Customer Journey Mapping is adapted across various sectors:

E-commerce

The e-commerce customer journey typically encompasses several distinct stages, including awareness, consideration, purchase, post-purchase, and loyalty. Each stage presents unique opportunities and challenges that can be addressed through tailored journey mapping.

• Awareness
  • Touchpoints: Social media ads, search engine results, influencer recommendations, and email marketing.
  • Insights: At this stage, it’s crucial to understand how customers first learn about your brand. Analyzing the effectiveness of different marketing channels can help optimize reach and engagement. Tools like Google Analytics and social media insights can provide data on traffic sources and audience demographics.

• Consideration
  • Touchpoints: Product pages, reviews, comparison tools, and personalized recommendations.
  • Insights: Customers often compare products before making a decision. Mapping this stage helps identify what information customers seek—such as price comparisons, detailed product descriptions, or user reviews—and how easily they can access it. This insight can inform content strategies and website design to enhance user experience.

• Purchase
  • Touchpoints: Shopping cart, checkout process, payment options, and promotional offers.
  • Insights: The checkout experience is critical in the e-commerce journey. Mapping this stage allows businesses to identify friction points that may lead to cart abandonment, such as complicated navigation or limited payment options. Analyzing conversion rates and user feedback during this phase can help optimize the purchasing process, making it as seamless as possible.

• Post-Purchase
  • Touchpoints: Order confirmation emails, shipping notifications, and customer service interactions.
  • Insights: The post-purchase experience significantly impacts customer satisfaction and retention. Mapping this phase helps identify how customers feel about their purchase, their expectations for delivery, and their experiences with customer support. Implementing feedback loops, such as surveys or follow-up emails, can provide valuable data for improving this stage.

• Loyalty
  • Touchpoints: Loyalty programs, personalized marketing, and community engagement.
  • Insights: Building long-term customer relationships is vital in e-commerce. Mapping the loyalty stage can reveal how to encourage repeat purchases through loyalty programs, targeted offers, or personalized communication. Understanding customer engagement with these initiatives helps refine strategies to retain customers and encourage advocacy.

This example by Digital First shows “a user named Emily looking to buy a smartphone online. Her user journey map might include stages like ‘Research,’ ‘Compare Options,’ ‘Add to Cart,’ ‘Checkout,’ and ‘Post-Purchase.’ Each stage would detail her actions, emotions, and pain points.

For example,during the ‘Checkout’ stage, she might feel frustrated if the payment process is complicated. This map helps e-commerce businesses identify and address potential barriers to a successful purchase.” (Digital First.ai).

Image 1 – E-Commerce Purchase Journey

SaaS and Technology

The SaaS customer journey typically includes several key stages: awareness, evaluation, onboarding, usage, support, and renewal. Each of these stages presents distinct challenges and opportunities that can be addressed through tailored journey mapping.

• Awareness
  • Touchpoints: Online ads, social media, content marketing (blogs, whitepapers), webinars, and industry events.
  • Insights: At this stage, potential customers are becoming aware of your software. Analyzing which channels effectively drive awareness helps determine where to allocate marketing resources. Understanding customer demographics and behaviors can inform content strategies that resonate with your target audience.

• Evaluation
  • Touchpoints: Product demos, free trials, case studies, comparison sites, and customer reviews.
  • Insights: Customers often conduct thorough evaluations before making a decision. Mapping this stage allows you to identify what information prospects are seeking—such as pricing, features, and customer testimonials—and how easily they can access it. This understanding can guide your sales and marketing teams in providing the right content to facilitate informed decision-making.

• Onboarding
  • Touchpoints: Welcome emails, tutorials, in-app guidance, and customer training sessions.
  • Insights: Effective onboarding is critical to user retention. Mapping the onboarding journey helps identify potential friction points, such as confusing interfaces or inadequate training resources. Gathering feedback from users during this phase can provide insights into how to improve the onboarding experience and ensure users derive value from your software quickly.

• Usage
  • Touchpoints: Regular interactions with the software, customer support, and community forums.
  • Insights: Understanding how customers use your software can help identify patterns of engagement and areas where users may struggle. Utilizing analytics tools to monitor user behavior within the application enables you to refine features and enhance the overall user experience. Feedback mechanisms, such as in-app surveys, can also help gauge customer satisfaction during this phase.

• Support
  • Touchpoints: Help center, chat support, email support, and user communities.
  • Insights: Support is crucial for maintaining customer satisfaction and loyalty. Mapping the support journey helps identify common issues faced by users and the effectiveness of your support channels. Understanding response times, resolution rates, and customer feedback on support interactions can inform improvements in your support strategy.

• Renewal
  • Touchpoints: Renewal notifications, account reviews, upsell opportunities, and customer success outreach.
  • Insights: The renewal stage is vital for maintaining revenue stability. Mapping this phase allows businesses to understand factors that influence renewal decisions, such as usage patterns, satisfaction levels, and perceived value. Implementing proactive outreach strategies, such as account reviews or personalized offers, can encourage renewals and upsells.

Below is example of Critical B2B Saas Customer Journey Touchpoints by Rampig agency.

Each B2B customer journey stage is characterized by how exactly a potential user interacts with your business – and all such interactions are commonly referred to as touchpoints. In this section, we’ll mark the most common and important B2B customer journey touchpoints for each stage: 

1. Awareness and Evaluation – company blog, PPC ads, SMM activities, word-of-mouth advertising, online reviews/testimonials, influencer marketing campaigns, organic search results, and webinars.
2. Acquisition – account registration, free trial, free premium, demo request, onboarding emails.
3. Activation – app notifications, video tutorials, customer knowledge base, emails with tips on advanced use, and community platforms.
4. Retention – app notifications, sales calls, subscription purchase reminders, promo emails, account and billing section.
5. Expansion – same as retention, but now with a view to not just sell, but up-sell.
6. Referral – referral and loyalty programs, testimonials, social media sharing, community forums.
7. Revenue – billing and invoicing, renewal notifications, customer feedback, payment processing, and account management. (Rampig.agency)

Image 2 – SaaS and Technology Journey Map.

Healthcare

A customer journey map example addresses patient care, appointment scheduling, and post-treatment follow-up.

The healthcare customer journey consists of several key stages: awareness, access, treatment, post-treatment, and ongoing care. Each of these stages involves distinct touchpoints and experiences that can be mapped to improve overall patient satisfaction and outcomes.

• Awareness
  • Touchpoints: Health-related searches, social media information, word-of-mouth referrals, and advertising.
  • Focus: Understanding how patients discover healthcare services and providers is crucial for enhancing visibility and building trust. Effective marketing strategies can help ensure that patients are aware of the options available to them.

• Access
  • Touchpoints: Appointment scheduling, insurance verification, and initial consultations.
  • Focus: This stage addresses the ease with which patients can access care. A smooth appointment scheduling process is essential. Mapping this touchpoint helps identify potential barriers, such as complicated online forms or limited appointment availability, and allows for the implementation of more user-friendly systems.

• Treatment
  • Touchpoints: Interactions with healthcare providers, diagnostic tests, and treatment procedures.
  • Focus: Patients expect clear communication and support during treatment. Understanding the experiences patients have with healthcare providers can inform better communication strategies, enhance empathy, and improve overall patient satisfaction.

• Post-Treatment Follow-Up
  • Touchpoints: Discharge instructions, follow-up appointments, and patient education materials.
  • Focus: Effective post-treatment follow-up is critical for ensuring patient recovery and satisfaction. Mapping this phase allows healthcare organizations to identify gaps in communication, such as unclear discharge instructions or lack of follow-up care. Gathering patient feedback can help refine these processes and enhance the overall experience.

• Ongoing Care
  • Touchpoints: Regular check-ups, chronic disease management, and access to support groups.
  • Focus: For patients with chronic conditions, ongoing care is essential for managing their health. Mapping this journey helps healthcare providers understand how well they support patients in maintaining their health over time. Utilizing patient portals for easy access to health information can empower patients in their ongoing care journey.

Below is an example by Digital First of Healthcare Patient Experience.

“In the context of healthcare, a patient journey map could follow a patient named Alex from ‘Appointment Booking’ to ‘Diagnosis’ and ‘Treatment Plan.’ Along the way, the map could highlight moments of anxiety, satisfaction, and confusion.“

For example, during the ‘Diagnosis’ stage, Alex might appreciate clear explanations from the doctor, easing his concerns. This map aids healthcare providers in delivering empathetic care and streamlining administrative processes.” (Digital First, April 2024).

Image 3 – Healthcare Patient Journey Map.

In the healthcare sector, customer journey mapping is essential for enhancing patient care, improving appointment scheduling, and supporting post-treatment follow-up, with numerous examples and a range of templates available. The “Current State” journey map by Finturf illustrates what your patients do, think, and feel as they move through the entire patient journey. It helps identify a patient’s potential risk and drives improvements to enhance the patient experience.

For example, patients may put off treatment due to a lack of funds. One way to address funding issues is to offer patient financing directly at your clinic.

Image 4 – Healthcare Patient Journey Map.

Financial Services

This customer journey covers account setup, online banking, and financial consultations.

In the financial services sector, customer journey maps help organizations understand the unique needs and expectations of their clients, allowing for more personalized and effective interactions. Financial institutions, including banks, insurance companies, and investment firms, often handle complex customer journeys that span various touchpoints, from in-person consultations to digital services. Tailoring these journey maps to the specific dynamics of financial services is essential for improving customer satisfaction, loyalty, and trust.

Key Stages in the Financial Services Customer Journey:

• Awareness and Research
  • Touchpoints: Websites, financial blogs, comparison platforms, and marketing campaigns.
  • Insights: Customers at this stage are evaluating financial institutions based on trust, reputation, and offerings. Journey maps can help institutions identify where clients seek information and how they evaluate options, allowing firms to optimize content marketing and offer resources like calculators or guides.

• Consideration and Decision
  • Touchpoints: In-person consultations, mobile apps, customer service, and online reviews.
  • Insights: At this stage, customers are comparing products (e.g., loans, investment options) and often require personalized advice. Journey mapping can highlight how well financial institutions guide customers in making decisions and whether there are any barriers in the consultation or application process.

• Onboarding
  • Touchpoints: Account setup (in branch or online), document verification, customer support, and tutorials.
  • Insights: A seamless onboarding process is crucial for establishing trust. Journey maps can reveal friction points, such as complicated documentation or a lack of digital onboarding tools, and suggest ways to simplify the process, improving customer retention.

• Service Usage and Engagement
  • Touchpoints: Mobile banking apps, financial advisors, customer support, and automated alerts.
  • Insights: Regular usage of financial products (e.g., checking accounts, credit cards, or insurance plans) is key to customer engagement. Mapping this stage allows institutions to improve their digital interfaces, ensuring clients can easily access services, receive timely updates, and have their issues resolved quickly.

• Support and Issue Resolution
  • Touchpoints: Call centers, online chat, and branch visits.
  • Insights: Financial services often require high levels of customer support, particularly for complex issues like loan management or investment queries. Journey mapping helps institutions understand how quickly and effectively support is provided, identifying areas where response times or service quality can be improved.

• Renewal and Loyalty
  • Touchpoints: Loyalty programs, renewal notifications, and follow-up consultations.
  • Insights: Customer retention is vital in financial services. Mapping the renewal phase enables companies to offer timely incentives or personalized offers to keep customers engaged and loyal.

This financial customer journey map by Slide Team details the process a consumer goes through when signing up for a financial institution. It starts at the onboarding phase and continues toward purchasing a mortgage.

Each touchpoint in the customer journey has a corresponding channel the business will communicate with customers on, the relevant business department, and more. Overall, this can serve as a jumping-off point for financial institutions that want to improve their customer journey.

Image 5 – Customer Journey Map for Banks.