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Imagine you are planning a trip. The map looks perfect – a clear route with scenic stops along the way. But as you set out, the roads are riddled with potholes, the signs are deceiving and the gas stations are closed. Frustrating right? That’s often how your customers feel when they go through the so-called “seamless” journeys you’ve designed for them. Despite your best intentions, the path too often becomes a maze, and we know how many dead ends there are.
So why does this happen and what can you do about it?
Your customer journeys should feel like a carefully constructed performance – every step designed to delight. On paper, you may have invested heavily in journey mapping and segmentation and had a clear value proposition across all touchpoints. No doubt your goal was convenience, relevance, and empathy for your customers, which led to loyalty, advocacy, and revenue for you.
Done well, this approach can be effective, making your customers feel valued and you gain efficiencies – lower service costs and more sales through self-service options. Sounds like a win-win.
In practice, however, the path often falters:
Frustrations reveal an underlying truth: even if you desire great journeys, execution is often not enough.
Think of the customer journey as a theater production. Your customers are an audience that expects a seamless experience. Behind the curtain, you must orchestrate countless moving parts—lighting, sound, and actors—to achieve the perfect performance. When things go wrong behind the scenes, it’s the audience that suffers.
Here’s how to get a standing ovation:
Your customers don’t demand perfection – only consistency and care. Bridging the gap between theory and practice of customer journeys requires more than just tools and metrics. It requires empathy, collaboration and a relentless focus on what your customers really value.
Ultimately, a great customer journey isn’t about ticking boxes or hitting KPIs. It’s about making every step effortless, meaningful and worth the trip.
Written by Greg Thomas and David Finch
(Image credit: Unsplash)