How to create a customer experience roadmap in 5 steps

We all have our favorite restaurants, brands, shops, etc., and almost always, that's due to the excellent customer experience we get from them. And the more seamless experience we get, the more loyal we are to the brand and the more we are willing to pay.

But what exactly is customer experience? Isn't it subjective? 

Customer experience (also known as CX) can be described as a set of emotions that people feel during their direct or indirect interactions with the brand along their buying journey. Customer experience consists of multiple touchpoints, including the product, service, ads, website, delivery, etc. As consumers seamlessly navigate from one to another – that's the moment that shapes the positive CX. 

While different people react differently to the same things, a customer experience roadmap is what brands use to shape the desired CX. The more personalized experiences you can create for your customers – the better. 

What is a CX Roadmap

Customer experience roadmap is like a perfect script that details every interaction a customer will have with your brand and what they will get on each step of their customer journey. It can also be described as an internal guideline that sets the direction for employees and helps them deliver consistent experiences to their clients across the user journey.

Why is customer experience (CX) so important? 

In today's competitive business landscape, brands should go the extra mile to attract their target audience. However, retention is even more critical, as it reduces marketing costs in the long run and increases the chances of upselling or repeat sales to customers already familiar with your products or services. As a result, prioritizing CX leads to an increase in customer retention and revenue. Did you know that the likelihood of selling to an existing customer is 60%-70%, while selling to a new customer is only 5%-20%? 

Meanwhile, negative CX can also affect your business. For instance, 59% of American buyers will not buy from a brand they were loyal to after several bad experiences. For 17%, just one bad experience is enough to switch.

Why do you need to create a customer experience (CX) roadmap?

As we said previously, positive experiences can mean different things to different people, so having a detailed roadmap is critical to delivering a consistent CX that will be the main differentiator of your brand. 

First of all, a CX roadmap helps to set KPIs and estimate the results of each initiative. Having the complete picture of the consumer journey, you can prioritize which touchpoints can be improved ASAP and which can wait. 

Also, it's much easier to onboard new team members and educate the existing ones on how to act in different situations. 

5 steps to build a seamless customer experience roadmap

Now let's move to the practical part and create a roadmap that will help exceed customer expectations.

1. Understand the current state of CX 

First, you should learn how people interact with your brand now. You can collect customer data through surveys, interviews, social listening tools, focus groups, and so on. If possible, contact your customers and those who didn't finish the purchase to learn their feedback and reasons why they didn't proceed with you. 

Identify customer pain points and expectations. Check your current customer journey and see which stages can be edited or improved. 

2. Define the desired customer experience roadmap

Now, when you see gaps or inconsistencies, you can set goals and outline a perfect roadmap you want your customers to go through. Don't hesitate to involve all the stakeholders so the team is on the same page regarding future changes.

3. Map the ideal customer journey

When you are all set with KPIs, it's easier to define stages and touchpoints in the customer journey that will help achieve those goals. Visualizing the customer journey map and describing everything in the smallest details is a good practice. For example, think of how users will see your ad, when it will be, on which devices, where it will lead, and what will happen next. 

Put yourself in your customer's shoes to understand their feelings during each step. Incorporate customer emotions and expectations at each touchpoint. You can achieve that using unique visuals, texts, or even smells. Create strong associations with your brand that will stick in your client's minds. 

Consistency is one more element that helps customers navigate their journey easier and seamlessly. To avoid confusion, your brand should look the same across all touchpoints and channels. If you use humor in your ad copy, your brick-and-mortar store sellers should also know how to joke. 

4. Design customer-centric interactions 

Another essential element, especially today, is personalization. People now have higher expectations and don't have much time. So once they see something that touches their hearts – they take it. That's how Netflix succeeded. Their personalized recommendation system is the dream of any marketer. Did you know that they even adjust previews depending on users' interests? 

Meanwhile, you don't have to be Netflix to access modern technologies that enhance and customize customer interactions. For instance, brands can use AI to adjust website content for each user. Or, they can leverage omnichannel eCommerce so that users can start the interaction on one device and finish it on the other one. 

5. Implement and analyze your customer experience roadmap

Once you've designed and implemented your new CX roadmap, it's crucial to keep an eye on it for some time to see if the changes worked for good. For example, you can conduct A/B testing to see if the changes in experience affected sales. Are customers happy with the new journey? Do they convert better?

Even if everything is perfect, keep tracking customer behavior to spot any shifts, evolving needs, or new market trends. Knowing the current situation allows you to quickly adapt the roadmap to new challenges and stay ahead of the curve.

How to leverage customer experience using a CMS

When it comes to actually managing the customer experience, there are multiple ways and tools to do so, but it's always easier if you can keep a bulk of them in one centralized hub. Content management systems, such as Storyblok, can be a perfect fit for that, and here is why:

Integration of third-party tools for analytics

Storyblok offers an extensive list of integrations and tools you can implement to analyze your audience, see how your content is performing and understand how you can enhance user experience. Meanwhile, due to the API-first approach, you can integrate any software without any limits.

Omnichannel publishing

Due to the headless approach, Storyblok has back and front ends decoupled, making it possible to publish your content across multiple presentation layers including but not limited to website, mobile app, AR, VR, and IoT. This means you can easily build omnichannel experiences for your users. For example, a customer can view an item on your website, add it to their shopping cart, receive an in-app notification, and complete the purchase on their smartphone.

Personalization and localization capabilities

Personalization is a big deal as consumers are getting used to it and are expecting to get recommendations that will quickly satisfy their needs. Stroyblok allows businesses to integrate various personalization tools to enhance user experience. 

The same comes with localization which can be managed by content teams directly in the system and requires no additional coding skills. Once settled by the dev team, marketers can create and publish content across several locales to offer their audiences an adapted experience based on their location, language, and other factors.

Conclusion

With the quickly expanding digitalization, consumers have become more demanding, making the customer experience a top priority for any organization. 

Building the customer experience roadmap is a huge step towards creating a stunning customer journey. However, its implementation is even more critical. Be sure to prepare well first, but also keep up-to-date to be ready to adjust your strategy to the ever-shifting demands of your audience.