Customer Journey Mapping for an Automobile Brand
Customer Journey Mapping always helped brands to enhance their customer service. It, in turn, trigger a positive customer experience.
Here is an example of a typical Digital Customer Journey Mapping of an auto enthusiast. It starts with determining the persona of a prospective buyer for an automotive company.
Let’s understand the journey of booking a test drive through the vehicle company’s website.
Note that this is only an illustration of a simple Customer Journey Mapping. The actual buying process could be more complicated than the indicated one below.
Customer journey Mapping consists of numerous parameters as mentioned in our blog: 4 Essential Elements in a Customer Journey Map.
Elements in a Customer Journey Mapping
The journey starts with the prospective customers checking out their favorite brand’s website. It helps them to gain product information like the specifications, images, price, etc.
Every Customer Journey Mapping consists of stages that identify customer feedback on the following:
- Specific preferences and buying habit
- Business infrastructure support systems
- Level of customer experience delivered
Following are the elements to be included while charting out a Customer Journey Mapping for your brand.
The first element is the customer process.
It is the set of processes that a customer undertakes in their purchase journey.
In our case, it is landing on the automotive website through organic, paid or referral traffic sources.
Visitors skim through the website to obtain their desired vehicle information. If they leave a digital trail behind (form fills), you have a win.
The second element is the internal process.
Businesses must ensure certain infrastructural support functions are in place to serve the customers better.
The brand must ensure they equip themselves with the following:
- A well-optimized website
- A CRM systems for customer management
- Back-end infrastructure support. (customer service teams, customer data recording tools, email and SMS messaging integrations, etc.)
Next is the mapping of customer experience across each stage of the customer journey.
Ensure you conduct periodic customer satisfaction survey for your brand. The customer research survey and CX measurement results will provide data for accurate mapping.
Now the last is the improvements and key learning from the customer journey mapping exercise.
Learning from the customer journey mapping can be used to devise efficient customer experience programs for the future. Identifying gaps in the buying cycle and delivering positive customer engagement helps to build a loyal customer base.
When we map our automobile enthusiast’s purchase journey, we get the below insights.
Navigate Website
The prospect/visitor skims through the website. They glance at various vehicle models, comparing prices, downloading brochures, etc.
Ensure the website contains relevant information for the visitor to take action. Place triggers to move them to the next stage of their purchase lifecycle. They try to book a test drive to experience the actual brand promise.
Schedule a test drive online
A well-optimized website with support services is a must-have.
Customer data recording tools, email, SMS messaging integration, etc. need to be in place. It helps in delighting the customer and provide a positive customer experience at this stage.
Include relevant ‘Call-To-Actions’ on a landing page or an action item such as ‘Schedule a Test Drive’ on the website home page.
It will trigger the prospect to fill in their contact details and go ahead to book a test drive.
Follow up from Customer Service
A quick customer service support system that answers customer queries is critical. It instantly answers customer requirements and drives a high level of customer engagement.
Any disengagement at this stage of purchase is very much likely to draw the prospective customer away from your brand and shift to your competitors.
Resolution
Faster processing of customer requests enables us to build a thriving base of prospects.
Ensuring instant communication with the customers by leveraging customer data records from CRM systems leads to higher conversions.
A customer journey map comes into help for you to effectively map the following:
- Brands’ capabilities
- Customer expectation
- Service gaps
- Scope for improvement across various stages in the purchase lifecycle.
It also helps in identifying and redesigning certain business practices to serve the customers better.
So, in a nutshell, the customer journey map enables businesses to persuade their prospective customers. It helps in driving them ahead to the subsequent stages of purchase. It also converts them into a come-back buyer for the company.
Should you wish to know more about the customer journey mapping, schedule a call with our customer experience strategists. Contact Jacobsons Direct