Not enough businesses take the time to audit the full customer experience for their products or services.
Oftentimes, we make assumptions about customers, but we can’t truly understand their interactions with our organization without conducting some comprehensive market research.
Customer journey mapping is the best way to document the thoughts, feelings, challenges, and successes throughout a customer process. These intricate studies typically require a multi-phase approach that seeks feedback from all stakeholders.
Once a foundation of the customer journey is developed, a market research company will additionally conduct interviews with customers to fill in any blanks.
For example, a prominent thermal management solutions manufacturer reached out to our market research firm to conduct journey mapping as the next step in its customer experience (CX) program.
Below are the objectives, approach, and report details of the market research study. Plus we'll share a templated example of a customer journey map to help with your next study.
Objectives
A New York-based thermal management solutions manufacturer partnered with Drive Research to conduct a market research study.
The goal of the market research project was to understand the touchpoints with the manufacturer, satisfaction with those touchpoints, areas for improvement, and other factors that impact the customer journey. These and other secondary objectives were addressed in the survey.
The deliverable aimed to ultimately help address customer journey goals of the manufacturer’s wider customer experience (CX) program and incorporate insights from previous research conducted with Drive Research.
Interested in developing your own CX program? Read up on three ways to create a customer experience strategy.
Approach
To address the objectives for the advisory firm, Drive Research recommended in-depth telephone interviews (IDIs) among active customers of the manufacturer.
Telephone interviews offer a more personal touch, and the methodology is more conversational. It is recommended over online or mail surveys to address journey mapping qualitatively.
The interviews were conducted through client-provided customer lists.
Participants were initially recruited by an introductory email from the client. Drive Research then sent a follow-up email and up to three reminder emails to maximize the response rate.
Each in-depth interview took an average of 30 minutes to complete and included 44 questions. 12 interviews were completed across 5 manufacturer customer segments. Fieldwork for the survey began on May 22 and lasted until July 1, 2020.
Here are the 5 key components of an in-depth interview guide.
Report
The detailed findings from the interviews outlined in a market research report remain confidential with the thermal management solutions manufacturer.
The manufacturing research report included a background and methodology, key themes, supporting research, a customer journey map, opportunity areas, and next steps for market research.
Also delivered with the report was a full-size graphic of the customer journey map for easy sharing.
The market research answered the following research objectives:
- What are the key touchpoints with the manufacturer?
- How satisfied are customers with each touchpoint?
- What are the areas of improvement?
- What else impacts the customer journey?
Example of a Customer Journey Map
Here is an example of the customer journey map that was developed for the manufacturing client. The information included in the journey map remains private with the client, but this showcases what type of information is included in this deliverable.
To see a full-screen version of this journey map, click here.
Drive Research is a national market research company located in New York. You can count on our team’s depth of experience with customer journey mapping for your business. Ready to contact our team?
Here are 4 ways to reach us:
- Message us on our website
- Email us at [email protected]
- Call us at 888-725-DATA
- Text us at 315-303-2040
Tim Gell
As a Research Analyst, Tim is involved in every stage of a market research project for our clients. He first developed an interest in market research while studying at Binghamton University based on its marriage of business, statistics, and psychology.
Learn more about Tim, here.
