Documenting the customer journey is a top priority for product, UX, and engineering teams, as well as for executive stakeholders. In order to build a product or service that customers will actually buy, your business must understand what your customers need and how they interact with your services and products
But those journeys aren’t static. When the world changes, the customer journey can change dramatically. And that matters because you can’t meet your customers if you don’t know which road they’re on. In times of crisis, change, and disruption, it’s vital to quickly adapt your customer journey to meet their needs.
How to adapt the customer journey during a crisis
It may seem strange to make reevaluating your customer journey a priority instead of reevaluating your product. In actuality, understanding a changing user journey gives real insights into your customer behavior that can inform strategic adjustments to your product.
Here are steps you can take to make smart adjustments to your customer journey.
Understand how customers are affected by the change
The best way to understand your customers isn’t through measurement or testing (though those are quite important). It’s through empathy. Put yourselves in your customers’ shoes.
If you, for instance, sell banking aggregator software, it’s likely that during a crisis your customers will have very real fears about the stability of their income and that they will turn to you for financial advice. How can you rise to that challenge? Can you offer free video chats with financial advisors? How about holding webinars about fluctuating stock values?
If you don’t know how to practice empathizing with your customers, turn to your customer personas and consider how a crisis would impact each aspect of their lives, from shopping to sleeping.
Listen to your customers and meet them where they are
During the COVID-19 pandemic, many businesses took great steps to help alleviate the stress of massive unemployment numbers and financial insecurity. Credit card companies waived interest and fees, utility companies suspended cutting off services, and car insurance companies returned premiums. They looked for ways they could help and they listened to their customers. Do the same: utilize empathy to understand your customers, then listen to what they need most. Proceed with a “give first” mindset.
During a crisis, every action is amplified and the selfless actions of businesses are remembered. Inversely, the tone-deaf responses from businesses reverberate and negatively impact the public’s perception of a brand for years to come. Remember: Your actions don’t have to be colossal. Simple kindness can be tremendously powerful.
Find out where the customer journey will be most affected
To find out how your customer journey is changing, start testing regularly. In addition, use your understanding of your customers to solve their current challenges. For instance, while on lockdown during COVID-19, many people found themselves craving human contact. To respond to that need, you could prioritize customer service and live chats.
Create a temporary journey map
Use this visual map to easily understand what your customer journey currently looks like. Continue to refer to the map as a base for ideation and problem-solving. But don’t just scribble it on a napkin: use the right software and tools to create a journey that can be changed as easily as dragging and dropping.
Don’t be afraid to experiment. After all, your temporary journey map is a sandbox to work out different ideas—no matter how wild.
