Uma Ganesh | June 24, 2021 | Mapping customer journeys and designing digital approaches for servicing customers has become a crucial aspect of digital efforts of businesses. Today customers have access to multiple touch points primarily facilitated by digital media to learn about the options available and also have opportunities to get influenced through multiple channels. Businesses have been paying a lot of attention to inward marketing efforts and social listening including third party review sites.
With the help of data analytics and insights drawn from every touchpoint, it is possible to review customer journey maps and make requisite changes ensuring favourable customer experiences.
Most customer journeys have been designed around the understanding of multiple touchpoints of the customers, namely their preferences of social media or forums in which they participate. However, it is important to recognise the need points. For instance, while travelling on the highways, pointers to the upcoming restaurants or farmer’s market would be the need of the customer and being able to proactively recognising and supporting this need would help maintain customer intimacy and result in a favourable customer experience.
Choice of right technologies or tools would also make a difference to customer experience. For example, there are several skill development programmes available through skilling centres across the country. Skills Alpha platform implemented at Umreth, Gujarat at the Dewang Mehta Kaushalya Vikas Kendra enables the youth to understand the gaps between their strengths and aspirational careers through visual depictions of personalised skilling journey, thus creating the clarity and ownership for their decision on what career path to choose. Further, AR enabled programmes like Covid Saathi has enabled scores of healthcare workers to visualise and relate to patient care needs better before stepping into the hospital environment, thus making their learning journeys meaningful.
Contactless deliveries, a new approach adopted by several e-commerce companies, is an example of the quick shift made based on the understanding of the customer mindset during pandemic times with the view to maximising business as well as aligning with the customer need.
Another example is that of Okhai whose primary focus was handloom apparels in the pre-Covid times. It started to realise that with customers remaining indoors the demand for buying new clothes is going to be minimal. Hence Okhai decided to focus on the discretionary spend of their customers and started to entice them with artisanal products. This suited the customer inclination to be treated with pretty things during the gloomy days in their homes as they spent hours on the internet. Thus companies which managed to quickly revisit their offerings trying to realign with the new outcomes have been able to move forward whereas others have been left behind.
Post-Covid era offers an excellent opportunity to small and medium scale companies to redesign their customer journeys and align their offerings suitably to create a niche for themselves as compared to large businesses who may take longer time to make course correction and create new pathways.
