Creating a Customer Ecosystem Map of Your Customer Experience CX Tool Creating a Customer Ecosystem Map of Your Customer Experience Jim Tincher Heart of the Customer Journey Mapping B2C/ B2B

Heart of the Customer Heart of the Customer is a consultancy established in 2011 to help companies provide a world-class customer experience. The Heart of the Customer blog includes interviews with a number of companies on how they drive loyalty through a superior customer experience. Who are our customers: We work with medium-sized B2B, B2C and B2B2C companies.

What is a Customer Ecosystem Map? An internally-created map of the customer journey, matched with the internal teams and resources impacting that journey. It is often created in conjunction with a Customer Journey Map. Forrester wrote about them in Outside In, but the process has been around for years. They are often confused with process maps. The biggest difference is that ecosystem maps begin with the customer’s steps, as opposed to the internal processes.

How do you use the Customer Ecosystem Mapping process? As a way to gather cross-functional input As a method to determine what you don’t yet know about the problem As an exercise to create a shared understanding of the issue As a first step towards more in-depth work or research on the problem

Customer Ecosystem Mapping process

How do you create a Customer Ecosystem Map? Select Journey Invite Members Document Steps People and Groups Objects Separate Backstage Supporting Actions, People, Groups, Systems & Objects Friction Points Customer and Employee Emotional Reaction

Select a Customer and Journey Determine a key customer segment or type. Select a journey that needs improvement Use other forms of research to identify journeys needing improvement Start with a small journey (8-12 customer steps) to learn the process Once you have the process down, move to more complex journeys Select Journey Invite Members Document Steps People and Groups Objects Separate Backstage Supporting Actions, People, Groups, Systems & Objects Friction Points Emotional Reaction

Invite mapping team members Recruit a mapping team Include representatives of all groups who impact the process – both customer-facing and back-end Include a mixture of management and front-line employees Consider including customers and/or external partners on you’re more comfortable with the process Create a process description with customer impact for members to review Have members research the issue before the mapping session Bring all members into a large room for the process Needed Supplies Big paper or mobile white board for the map sticky notes in seven colors Red, green and yellow sticky dots Select Journey Invite Members Document Steps People and Groups Objects Separate Backstage Supporting Actions, People, Groups, Systems & Objects Friction Points Emotional Reaction

Document your Customer’s steps Have members write down the series of customer steps on sticky notes Choose a customer-facing member to go first, then ask others what steps have been missed Do not go into exceptions or friction points yet – this is the journey as it is designed Leave spaces between each, as you may discover missed steps later Friction points People interacting with customer Systems and Objects Internal Teams Actions Patient returns call to schedule appointment Patient receives an emailed reminder Customer Steps Patient receives reminder call for appointment Later steps are omitted here for space reasons Select Journey Invite Members Document Steps People and Groups Objects Separate Backstage Supporting Actions, People, Groups, Systems & Objects Friction Points Emotional Reactions

Matrix key The matrix you saw on the previous (and follow slides) on the left column has these headers: Friction points People interacting with customer Systems and objects Actions Internal teams Across the top – as column headers, you write out the customer steps

Document People and Groups interacting with your Customer Have members write down the people and groups your customer interacts with on a differently-colored sticky note Have a volunteer place these directly below the matching customer-focused step Have others members add teams that the first volunteer missed Friction points People interacting with customer Receptionist Systems and Objects Internal Teams Actions Scheduler Patient returns call to schedule appointment Patient receives an emailed reminder Customer Steps Patient receives reminder call for appointment Select Journey Invite Members Document Steps People and Groups Objects Separate Backstage Supporting Actions, People, Groups, Systems & Objects Friction Points Emotional Reactions

Document Customer-facing Objects in the journey Use a different color of sticky note and document the objects your customer interacts with at each step of the journey Include both physical objects (such as forms) and virtual (such as websites) Friction points People interacting with customer Receptionist Systems and Objects Phone system Internal Teams Actions Scheduler Email system Appointment System Patient returns call to schedule appointment Patient receives an emailed reminder Customer Steps Patient receives reminder call for appointment Select Journey Invite Members Document Steps People and Groups Objects Separate Backstage Supporting Actions, People, Groups, Systems & Objects Friction Points Emotional Reactions

Draw a line to separate the Backstage processes Items below this line are not seen by the customer, but can have significant impact on their experience Friction points People interacting with customer Receptionist Systems and Objects Phone system Internal Teams Actions Scheduler Email system Appointment System Patient returns call to schedule appointment Patient receives an emailed reminder Customer Steps Patient receives reminder call for appointment Select Journey Invite Members Document Steps People and Groups Objects Separate Backstage Supporting Actions, People, Groups, Systems & Objects Friction Points Emotional Reactions

Document “Invisible” items impacting the journey Create sticky notes documenting the actions, people, groups and objects that support the actions above Examples can include finance, the teams printing bills, IT systems, etc. This will take a bit longer, as many invisible items impact the experience Have one member give his/her perspectives, then open it up for debate Friction points People interacting with customer Receptionist Systems and Objects Phone system Internal Teams CRM Actions Need for call generated Physician Appt created Nurse Scheduler Email system Email Sent Appointment System Patient returns call to schedule appointment Patient receives an emailed reminder Customer Steps Patient receives reminder call for appointment Constant Contact Select Journey Invite Members Document Steps People and Groups Objects Separate Backstage Supporting Actions, People, Groups, Systems & Objects Friction Points Emotional Reactions

Find the Friction Points Identify the places in the journey where things tend to go wrong Use call center logs, surveys, customer journey maps and other research to discover these friction points Focus on the most important areas – those impacting the most people Including all possible friction points will bog down this process – call out only those most commonly experienced Physician not available for 2+ weeks Senior patients prefer physical mail Friction points People interacting with customer Receptionist Systems and Objects Phone system Internal Teams CRM Actions Need for call generated Physician Appt created Nurse Scheduler Email system Email Sent Appointment System Patient returns call to schedule appointment Patient receives an emailed reminder Customer Steps Patient receives reminder call for appointment Constant Contact Select Journey Invite Members Document Steps People and Groups Objects Separate Backstage Supporting Actions, People, Groups, Systems & Objects Friction Points Emotional Reactions

Estimate the Emotional Reactions For each person involved in the process, place green, yellow or red dots (positive, neutral, negative) on each part of the journey to represent whether it is working well from the perspective of the person touching it Document customer reactions first, then the employees Have one member place his/her thoughts on the map, then debate If you have a customer journey map, use that to help estimate the customer reaction Notice that employees are often perfectly happy with a process that frustrates your customers Physician not available for 2+ weeks Senior patients prefer physical mail Friction points People interacting with customer Receptionist Systems and Objects Phone system Internal Teams CRM Actions Need for call generated Physician Appt created Nurse Scheduler Email system Email Sent Appointment System Patient returns call to schedule appointment Patient receives an emailed reminder Customer Steps Patient receives reminder call for appointment Constant Contact Select Journey Invite Members Document Steps People and Groups Objects Separate Backstage Supporting Actions, People, Groups, Systems & Objects Friction Points Emotional Reactions

Recapping is one of the most critical parts of the process What was learned? What surprised members? Are there quick changes that can improve the experience? Are there parts of the process that we still don’t know? Are there additional teams we need to engage? Do we need more details? Follow-up meetings are common especially the first few times you go through this process

Notes on the process Typical length = 2 hours for simple map Save time by having participants do research beforehand Longer processes can take 4-8 hours Discussion = Magic Creating a shared view is critical Iteration Happens Some questions can’t be immediately answered Avoid finger-pointing The goal is not to judge, but uncover opportunities Even broken processes exist for a reason Look for the quick fixes Often, both simple and long-term solutions come to mind Quick fixes build a sense of momentum