Customer Journey Mapping An Introduction

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Customer Journey Mapping An Introduction

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INTRODUCING JOURNEY MAPPING

Customer journey mapping is the process of tracking and describing all the experiences that customers have as they encounter a service or set of services, taking into account not only what happens to them, but also their responses to their experiences.

Its a key tool help achieve service transformation:

A growing emphasis on getting closer to customers Helps bring customers stories to life Acts as a call to action and help drive culture change Can help shape strategy and policy

At its best, journey mapping can be truly transformational

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CUSTOMER JOURNEYS IN GOVERNMENT

Many customer journeys dealt with by government cut across departmental boundaries. Journey mapping can be particularly valuable here.
INDIVIDUAL JOURNEYS
Birth or adoption ve Maternity lea re Ante-natal ca th Registering bir fits ne Be Trust fund Starting school

Getting married

Retiring

Bereavement

Ofsted reports Applying for school Pre-school boosters

Benefits Taxes Registration Name change

Applying for pension ent Tax on retirem income

Registering death Pensions Notifying change of circumstances

BUSINESS JOURNEYS
Starting a busines s

Tax/compliance

Employing som eone

Health & safety

n Closing dow

Registration VAT Financing Applying for grants

End of year returns VAT Auditing requirements

Jobcentre Plus PAYE National insurance

Registration HSE inspections Local authority regulations Legal system

e, Changing nam us at st or s addres y nc Redunda payments Tax & accounts

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WHERE JOURNEY MAPPING CAN HELP

Do you have gaps in your understanding of the experience that customers have at the moment?

If you tick any of these boxes, its likely that journey mapping could be of help

Would it help you to have high impact feedback to challenge conventional thinking?

Do you have intractable policy challenges where you keep trying things but without getting anywhere?

Do you need to convince colleagues in other functions about the importance of a customer-focused approach?

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JOURNEY MAPPING IN ACTION

BETTER CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE Journey mapping helps:

GREATER EFFICIENCY Journey mapping helps:

See things from the customers point of view Get it right when it really matters e.g. when emotions are highest or need greatest Deliver a seamless, streamlined experience that cuts across silos Deliver information, messages and services at the most appropriate time

Target limited resource for maximum impact Plan the most efficient and effective experience by reducing duplication and shortening the length of processes Identify cheapest cost to serve, Identify baton-change points where service or communication breakdown is most likely

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DIFFERENT TYPES OF JOURNEY MAPPING

There are three types of journey mapping process.

Qualitative, focused on emotional insights to tell a story with passion and narrative. Powerful way of engaging staff and customers

Combine both approaches for incremental benefit

Measures how well the experience is delivered; links to customer satisfaction, metrics & tracking Allows you to quantify the effect of changes and contribute to business cases

Maps steps in a process also known as process mapping. Identifies where to act to make the experience as easy, pleasant and efficient as possible

The different types of journey map can be used alone or in combination to better understand customer experiences.
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HOW TO CONSTRUCT A MAP

CONSTRUCTING YOUR MAP: KEY STEPS

Step 1: Confirm the journey and customer

Now you have carried out your in-depth mapping event, review the work of the set-up phase to confirm type of journey (with start and end points) and customer segments Ensure definitions of these are clear and that everyone has a common understanding of them Start by noting down all the journey steps people go through. Its useful to put these on Post-it notes so they can be moved around Arrange these in chronological order and challenge to make sure youve got the sequence right. Ideally you want to map around 610 key journey steps Ensure youre clear which channels people use at each step For each step, and taking the customers viewpoint, write down what they do and how they think and feel Write this in the everyday language customers use put it in their own actual words where possible Say what peoples emotions are and how strongly theyre felt Use emotive words they help bring people to life Again, for each step in the journey, write down what the touchpoints are. A touchpoint is a point in the process where you have some sort of interaction with the customer Think about physical interactions (e.g. buildings), human contact (face to face or remote) and communications

Step 2: Identify key journey steps

This page shows the steps you need to go through to construct a customer experience map like the example opposite. The following pages give hints to help in each step of the process.

Step 3: Actions, feelings, thoughts and reactions Step 4: Touchpoints

Step 5: Moments of truth

Now, looking at the whole journey, identify the moments of truth These are the key points in the journey where customers may pause and evaluate the experience, or make a crucial decision Aim to be discriminating here dont be tempted to label every step as a moment of truth!

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CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE MAPPING

BORDERS AND IMMIGRATION AGENCY EXAMPLE

Getting managers and

Objectives, scope & journey type Moments of truth Key Journey Key Journey Steps Steps
Finds information Application submitted Payment processed Query from UK Visas received Receive interview request Biometrics and interview VISA received Applying for entry clearance to the UK

Customer segment

Short-term student from China (Sichin)

other staff to think about how people think, feel and act at every journey step
Identifying key points

where we can act to transform the experience

Bringing this to life to

Actions, feelings, thoughts and reactions at each step

Sichin has details of her course and tries to find out about visa application. Finds the website easily and is encouraged

Sichin applies online and sends supporting documents by secure post. Expensive but cant risk losing them

Payment has gone through but shes heard nothing yet. Its a big sum of money hope alls OK

Application and checks have shown one of the documents is missing. Sichin finds this but more expense

Contacted for interview. Worried biometrics sounds alarming. Anxious now about timing all taking a long time

Attends her interview. Nervous building intimidates her. Hope its gone OK but hard to tell

Visa arrives in the post. Hugely relieved and can now look forward to and finalise her plans for coming to England

sell internally

Touchpoints

Website; needs to be easy to access 24/7 Supporting phone line

Currently no contact. Opportunity to confirm receipt

Payment goes through bank no direct acknowledgement

Query sent by email. Opportunity to update on progress and timing

Letter sent out. Opportunity to say more about the process

Face to face contact with interviewer. Could say more about process to reassure

Postal delivery of visa Can be sent with more info on immigration

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MAPPING THE SYSTEM (PROCESS MAPPING)

FREE SCHOOL MEALS EXAMPLE

Sharing what the current Objectives/ scope
Map Free School Meals (FSM) to identify how to deliver a better customer service and achieve cost savings

End to end system definition

Process of making a new application for FSM from becoming eligible through to receiving meals

Customer segment

process looks like

All new applicants

Identifying duplications

Core system goals

Goal 1: Deliver an important benefit consistently and without delays

Goal 2: Minimise the number of entitled people leaving the process without obtaining the benefit

Goal 3: Contribute towards a required 3% efficiency improvement across the council

and deviations from the norm where do things go wrong?

Identifying how and

KEY STEPS IN SYSTEM/CUSTOMER JOURNEY

Leaves process No Becomes eligible/ aware of eligibility Finds out about FSM and how to apply Do I want to apply? Completes application form (4 routes leading to Yes same process) Receives request for more information/ verification No Leave process No Can I/ do I want to proceed? Yes Sends extra information/ verification Receives confirmation of FSM entitlement Child starts receiving meals

where things can be improved

Comparing the view of

Customer

staff with the view of customers

Training showing how

Tameside council FSM section

Receive and check application

Is all correct info provided?

Yes

Bring up childs record and add note

Add claim dates and authorisation

Report sent to school and confirmation to parent

things should be done

School

Receive report on entitlement

Provides meals

NOTES ON PROCESS AND CRITICAL INCIDENTS

Application rates may vary by area; in some places theres more stigma Critical attached moment Four different routes have very different associated costs Sometimes can verify internally , sometimes have to go back to the customer On-line applications have earlier start date than paper ones Wasted materials often associated with this step Will continue to receive benefit until next review, even if eligibility changes

Critical moment

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THE HEART MONITOR

MINISTRY OF JUSTICE EXAMPLE

Objectives, scope & journey type Moments of truth Key Key Journey journey Steps steps

Track the process experienced by jurors to improve levels of service

Customer segment

Jurors

Expressing a journey in

Receive summons Receive letter looking forward to it

Jury selection

In court pre-trial

In court during trial

Deliberation

Delivery of verdict Finishing was a relief

Post trial

a highly visual way that can engage and motivate stakeholders

Identifying the highs and

Great +100

Judge was professional

Judge thanks jury much appreciated Trial was impersonal

lows of the experience

Clearly highlighting the

Customer Satisfaction Rating

Expenses a hassle Easy to change date by email Slow selection process

areas where we need to take action most urgently

Locked in Victims family start to cry lowest point Not sent information about sentencing

-100 Poor

Late start most days

Only small amount of evidence useful

No preparation for delivering verdict

Levers for solution hunting

Comms: Manage Customer face: Process: Comms: expectations Explain delays Simplify expenses Make jurors Channel: Environment: system aware of role 24 hour access Make the wait as Look at timeplayed by all the painless as keeping evidence possible

Environment: Customer face: Comms: Provide adequate Talk to jurors Ensure follow-up facilities stress the letter goes out re Comms: importance of sentencing Brief on verdict what theyve done delivery

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THE MAPPING WORKSHOP

Preparation Running Capture & Output

Make sure that you capture the understanding behind the words that were said.
WHO? Customers/users of service or representatives (e.g. charities) Frontline staff People from policy and strategy Service owners Experts on any key research Creative and energetic people who will join in and contribute People with a vested interest in the project HOW MANY? Ideally about 6-10 people The more you have the longer youll needbut youre likely to get more views, which could lead to a more robust result WHERE? Location can really affect quality of peoples input and therefore your final output Offsite is usually best Choose a location that is creative or relevant to the journey you are mapping See online toolbox for workshop planning checklists WHAT TO BRING? Clear description of, and evidence supporting, the segments you have chosen Customer profiles and pen portraits, pictures, anything relevant that brings your customer to life Relevant research Existing satisfaction measures All inputs from mapping events

WHAT TO CAPTURE? Plan on the day to capture as much as possible. Its easy to edit after the event, but not to recapture something thats lost WHAT OUTPUT? Be prepared after the event to tidy up and edit as necessary Simplify where you can, but without losing the real understanding that can come from the detail Look for output that is visual and arresting with pictures and diagrams Check back with customers or staff who took part in mapping events does your output really reflect their experience?

HOW TO RUN? Plan an agenda thats realistic for the time and number of people that you have (see following page) If you need to cover more than one journey or customer group, be realistic. Consider splitting your participants into teams to handle multiple journeys, or divide tasks across more than one workshop

When constructing journey maps, a workshop involving a core team of people is usually the best way to capture and articulate the journey or journeys you are mapping. The mapping workshop is the engine room of the process. Bringing together all your customer research and understanding in an inspirational setting with creative and energetic people should be a hugly engaging experience for them, and result in transformational journey maps.

See following page for an outline agenda and workshop approaches

The BIA case study in Section 6 gives further examples of creative ways to capture output

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RUNNING A MAPPING WORKSHOP

Obviously any workshop plan will vary according to your specific objectives, inputs and participants, but heres a suggested outline agenda and some possible mapping approaches.
OUTLINE AGENDA For a full day workshop
Introduction and ice breaker Setting the context

15 mins 30 mins
WALLPAPER WORKING Recreate the steps of the journey on a long sheet of wallpaper. Show all entry and exit points, highlighting different routes, options, and whats happening at each stage.

Project background and journey mapping principles Objectives for today

Getting to know your customers better

60 mins

Share research and inputs from mapping event Cover each segment (where applicable)

Defining the journey

15 mins 60 mins

Agree definition including start and finish points Build journeys for each key segment Work in groups as necessary POST-IT PARKING Use Post-it notes to detail each step of the journey, arranging them in order to create the sequence of events. This can be used alongside the wallpaper approach. Remember to photograph final output and/or number the Post-its so the order of each step is not lost.

Be creative! By all means use the agenda here as a base, but dont be afraid to add or substitute your own ideas.

Build journeys (see approaches on the right)

Share outputs LUNCH Reprise morning work to ensure shared understanding of all journeys Identify touchpoints and moments of truth

15 mins 30 mins 30 mins 30 mins 60 mins

Hot Spot Journey Steps Experience: Actions Thoughts Feelings Reactions

Work in groups as before

MAKING AN ARRANGEMENT

Share outputs Identify opportunities to make changes

In groups as before, focused against key objectives Think about how to implement and monitor

PreImmediate Period of Making Trying to The Break Up Getting help separation aftermath adjustment arrangements make it work

Review & revise

Ongoing End of management arrangement

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Share outputs Agree next steps and close

30 mins 15 mins

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Key issues/ opportunities for us to address:

PRO-FORMAS Print off pro-forma worksheets and ask participants to compete them. Make them large (at least A3) to maximise impact and encourage detail. Make them colourful and specific to each target segment, using photographs and pictures.

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EXAMPLE OF COMPARING A CURRENT AND IDEAL EXPERIENCE

FREE SCHOOL MEALS IDEAL JOURNEY

Tameside Council mapped both the current and the ideal journey when re-designing their free school meals application process.
By plotting the two side by side they were able to identify where the customer experience needed to change, in what ways and over what timescale.

FREE SCHOOL MEALS CURRENT JOURNEY

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IDENTIFYING PROBLEMS AND OPPORTUNITIES

CHECKLIST 1: THE CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE

CHECKLIST 2: EFFICIENCY AND EFFECTIVENESS

Complexity

Is the route through the system clear to customers? Are there points where theyre unsure where to go next? Are they having to do the same thing more than once? Are they clear where responsibility lies at each step in the process? Are badly-designed forms or other materials causing delays? How long does the whole process take now? How long does each step take? Are people satisfied with the overall timespan and with time taken for individual steps? Where do delays occur and why?

Time taken

Is the overall timeframe acceptable? How long does each step take now? Where are the bottlenecks? What caused delays? Why?

Duplication

Time taken

Are any steps repeated? Why? Does data get entered more than once? Does work get double-checked? Why is this necessary? Do paper records duplicate electronic ones? Is there a clear reason why each step is there? Does it fulfill a unique purpose? Are there dog-legs in the system that need to be ironed out?

Accessibility The different checklists are here to help you think about problems from different angles, but they are not mutually exclusive. Achieving better efficiency, for example, can often go hand in hand with improving the customer experience.

Where and when are people coming into this system? Are they coming in at the right points? Once in the system, is signposting clear? Does the customer see consistent branding? Are you offering appropriate channels?

Complexity

Errors

Where do errors commonly occur? Where is rework taking place because of errors? Whos making errors and why?

Nature of experience

Whats pleasant/unpleasant about the experience now (customer experience mapping can help here if you dont know) What are the real turn-off points? Where are you losing people?

Responsibilities

Are responsibilities clear at each step? At decision points is there a single, clearly-identified decision-maker? Who captures and owns data? Are baton-change points between departments clearly identified and smooth-running? Are there bottlenecks/errors/delays as a result of too few skilled people? Where are people (our own or partners) failing to deliver fully, and why?

Cost

Whats the cost to the customer at each step in the process? At which steps are costs seen to be unacceptable? Is the cost the same for all? If not, who experiences most problems?
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IDENTIFYING PROBLEMS AND OPPORTUNITIES

CHECKLIST 3: COST TO SERVE CHECKLIST 4: CHALLENGING THINKING

Overt costs

Whats the direct cost to government at each step in the process? Where are costs particularly high? Are some channels especially expensive? Are there avoidable contacts? Are some customers particularly costly?

Assumptions

Are you making assumptions about the way things should be done based on whats always gone before? Are steps really adding value? Are decision-points really necessary?

Hidden costs

Where might there be hidden costs associated, for example, with reworking, partner costs or costs not directly incurred by your department?

Inertia

What parts of the system have been around for a long time without review or overhaul? Where have steps proliferated because somethings been tacked on to an old system rather than rethinking the whole thing?

Impact of costs

Where are high costs adversely affecting the level of service delivered to the customer? Where are you incurring cost thats failing to deliver any value to customers?

Perspective

Where are the touchpoints with other government systems or processes? Have you reflected all of these? Do you understand the impact on the customer?

The Tell us Once initiative is seeking to join up government services across departments, not by tacking together diverse systems but by looking for a solution that starts from the viewpoint of the customer.

Choices

Are there points where youre delivering the same service to everyone, although not everyone needs the full process? Do you know what the cost/benefit balance is for different customer types?

Relevance

Are parts of the system becoming outof-date? What do your customers think? Are there points where the process has failed to take advantage of new technology (e.g. IT)?

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TAKING ACTION - CHECKLISTS

CHECKLIST 1: IMPROVING THE CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE
How

CHECKLIST 2: IMPROVING EFFICIENCY

Which

Make it simpler

can you avoid asking people to do things theyve already done (across government as a whole)? How can you ensure people are crystal clear whos responsible for each step? Can you redesign forms/materials to make them simpler and avoid errors? Is there somewhere to go for help?

Save time

steps cause most delays and/or are the priorities to be speeded up? How can you clear bottlenecks? Where can you combine or eliminate steps to speed up the process? Can tasks be automated? Which ones?
How can you eliminate repeated steps? Can you link systems to avoid multiple data

Which

Make it quicker

are the most time-sensitive steps that you should focus on? How can delays be avoided, or the effect of them lessened? Where slow progress is inevitable, how can you keep customers informed and lessen negative responses?

Remove duplication

entry? you put in failsafe procedures to avoid the need for double-checking? How can you ensure paper records dont simply duplicate electronic ones?
Can Can

How

Make it more accessible

can you ensure people enter the system at the right point? How can you improve signposting to direct people to the right place? Can you make branding more consistent? Should you be offering new or different channels?

Reduce complexity

you remove any steps to smooth out dog legs & make a simple path through? Is all the data you collect really needed? Who uses it and how? Whats the simplest route from start to finish? Can you apply this to everyone? If so, how?
Can

Reduce errors

Which

Make it more pleasant

parts of the process should you be focusing on to improve the experience and avoid losing people? Where should you set standards for the quality of the customer experience? How rigid or flexible should you be? (e.g. how prescriptive in call centres?)

you put in failsafe mechanisms to prevent errors occurring? What would help reduce errors? Better staff training? Simpler forms? More help? Could you reduce errors by putting sanctions in place if correct procedures arent followed?
How

Clarify responsibilities

might you better clarify/formalise responsibilities? How can you clearly specify ownership of customers, data, decisions? How can you work more closely with other departments or agencies to ensure smooth baton-changes?
Do

Are

Make it cheaper

there particular steps (and particular customer groups) you should focus on? How can you minimise the number of contacts you require customers to make? How can you use channels more effectively to manage costs for the customer?
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Use people effectively

you have the right number of people involved? Do they have the right skills and training? Are they engaged and positive? Do you have the right partners on board and are they delivering effectively?

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CHECKLIST 3: REDUCING THE COST TO GOVERNMENT

Which costs should you focus What are the key cost drivers,

CHECKLIST 4: ACHIEVING TRANSFORMATION

Challenge all assumptions Look at the whole system.

Cut direct costs

on? which can you control, and how might you reduce costs using these? How might you save money by shifting the channel mix? How can you best deal with the most expensive customers?
In

Be challenging

Where are the blocks that limit capacity/speed/growth? Imagine removing each step of decision point in turn. What would the real impact be? Could you handle this?

Know the real cost

identifying cost priorities, have you included direct and indirect costs? How can you include and address costs incurred by other departments or agencies? Do charges you make to customers reflect the time it takes to serve them? Is it feasible to do this?

If

Welcome new thinking

you were starting from scratch, would you build the system this way? Can you really go on tweaking the current system or do you actually need to build a new one in order to operate effectively? Can you remove whole parts of the process to simplify dramatically?

How How

Examine new options

can you rework the system to eliminate avoidable contacts? How can you encourage people to use more cost-effective channels? Where can you switch from paper records and communications to electronic ones?

Take a broad view

does your system interact with other government systems or processes? Are you sure youre thinking broadly enough? How can you move toward linking the various systems seamlessly? How can you reduce baton-change points, so fewer people need briefing?

Could

Face up to decisions

you/should you prioritise, to give different levels of service according to customer need? Looking at the cost/benefit balance, could you/should you reflect different levels of customer need for transactional processes?

How

Look to the future

can you ensure the system is flexible enough to accommodate likely future changes? How do you become aware of macrotrends and their impact on your customers? How can you be sure that youre in line with them?
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LEVERS FOR IDENTIFYING ACTIONS

When you are considering the actions you might take, its useful to think about the different levers that are available to you, as shown below.
Identify the lever(s) that will have the biggest impact, and specify where you will use them to improve the customer experience. Think from the customers perspective and think in terms of joined-up services, not silos.

LEVERS FOR IDENTIFYING ACTIONS CONTENT CHECKLIST

Product / Service
Does it meet customer expectations and deliver on their needs? Are your services joined up with those of other departments?

Proposition
Is your proposition clear, engaging and motivating?

Channel / Environment
Can customers easily access your product / service? Are they made to feel welcome?

Communication
Do you have a strong voice with your customer ? Are you communicating in the most effective and compelling way?

Value Provision
Are there areas where you are overdelivering (or duplicating) or underdelivering and failing on your proposition?

Partnerships
Are you working with the right partners in the right way? Are you and your partners consistent in your service delivery?

Think about what is driving the need for change. Is this an internal resource management/optimisation issue? Or is the need to change driven by a mismatch of customer experience vs. expectation? Aim to understand the root of the problem you are trying to fix. It is important to treat the cause, not just manage symptoms.

Customer Face
Are your customerfacing colleagues effectively briefed, and are they delivering to required standards?
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Process
Is the process smooth with easy transitions? Are customers satisfied with the experience you provide?

Reputation
Do your customers recognise who you are and what you are there for? Are you distinct in what you offer?

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EXAMPLES OF TAKING ACTION

TAKING ACTION

TYPE OF JOURNEY
Actual A literal, physical journey; e.g. prisoners being taken from court to prison Transactional Going through a process with fixed steps, e.g. applying for free school meals

EXAMPLES OF ACTIONS YOU MIGHT TAKE

Identify most appropriate times and ways to deliver information & messages Improve the environment at key points Train staff to recognise and respond to moments of truth Establish new channels so that customers can access government more easily and efficiently Look for ways of reducing journey times Remove duplication from the process Build staff engagement and empathy for customers Encourage cross-silo working to deliver a consistent customer experience Find ways increase patient engagement through improved communication Plan resources around times of peak demand Identify priority customer groups who need most help Train staff to know when to intervene and when to stand back Change systems to reduce demand on customers at times of greatest emotional stress Establish ongoing communication channels with low cost to serve Identify times when customers will and wont welcome contact from you Segment customers according to the stage theyve reached in their relationship with you Link systems to reduce need for multiple contacts from the customer Focus resource on baton-change points where customers can be lost Train staff so they understand their role vis a vis that of other departments

This tool gives some examples of the sort of actions that are likely to come out of the mapping process. Note that these dont all have to be large scale and expensive there are often quick wins too.

Experiential An ongoing experience of a service or linked services, e.g. using the Health Service Emotional A mental journey that is experienced over time e.g. going through a separation and making arrangements for children Relationship Building The development of a relationship with government over time; e.g. a business customer working government to grow a business Rite of Passage A major life change or lifestage event that can cut across many parts of government, e.g. bereavement
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Plan and (re)allocate resources to focus on areas of greatest need Set performance indicators and standards so that change over time can be measured

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PRIORITISING ACTIONS
When you have identified the actions you might take as a result of the mapping process, you can begin to analyse and prioritise them. For each one, consider the relative costs and benefits. You can do this qualitatively using judgment, or quantify it by setting measurable criteria based on your particular objectives. Agree the weighting that should be given to each criteria depending on its relevance and importance to your project. Some examples of possible criteria are:

PRIORITISING ACTIONS

Kill off

Requires leadership to drive through

Possible Criteria

Cost

Benefit

Financial cost (one-off and ongoing) Time cost People cost Other resource Level of risk Better customer experience Improved outcomes Reduced waste Enhanced staff morale Reduction in avoidable contact

High

Cost

Test fit with other initiatives

Once you have undertaken the analysis, you can plot the results using the Prioritising Actions tool on the right. This is a relatively simple tool but can really help guide your thinking. A quantified tool for prioritisation in included in the online toolbox.

Low

Quick wins
Low priority Low Benefit High No barriers .

When thinking about actions, remember the importance of stakeholder commitment. You need the support of stakeholders to make things happen!

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CASE STUDY:HMRC
BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES With its objective of delivering customer-focused services, HMRC commissioned research to collect information on the customer journeys of individual tax payers and credit or benefit recipients. The research sought to identify patterns in interactions from a customer perspective, providing data that would allow costs and opportunities to be identified, whilst allowing HMRC to map and costs structures and processes. APPROACH There were three stages of research: - Alignment with internal stakeholders - Qualitative, depth interviews - Quantitative telephone interviews. The sample included a wide range of people to represent a spectrum of HMRC customers. A huge amount of information and emotional insight had to be communicated in fast and effectively, and a cartoon approach was used in presenting the results in order to bring the journeys to life.

CUSTOMER UNDERSTANDING Journey Maps

Pen Portraits

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KEY LEARNINGS Bringing the journey to life visually has a far greater impact than black words on white paper Many simple journeys go almost unnoticed these benefit particularly from this approach Many journeys begin with a shock or occur at a time of change people start in a heightened emotional state which its important to understand and communicate

ACTIONS AND OUTCOMES Although this work had only just been completed at time of writing, the approach adopted has already served to bring the customer to life within the organisation in a highly motivating way. The outputs will be used for a number of purposes, including to cost journeys and interactions and test potential changes in services and processes, with the view of improving customer experience and departmental efficiency. Overall, the work will be used to promote the use of customer understanding in policy, processing and operational decisions
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CASE STUDY: TAMESIDE FREE SCHOOL MEALS

School Meals (As is) Renewal of application for Free
Customer FSM Section

April 2007
School

Application for Free School Meals (To Be) High Level Overv Oct2007 iew- Verified Apps.
Customer
Complete on-line application form one of three ways- self completion online - in person at Customer Services - over the phone to Call Centre

FSM Section

School

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES Following a residents opinion survey in the nineties, Tameside Council developed an Access to services strategy. This linked front and back office services for all functions and adopted a strong customer ethos. Common IT systems were established to support all services, allowing Tameside to see how customers accessed services, to track trends and to monitor costs. This, combined with a target to achieve a 3% improvement in efficiency, put a strong emphasis on costs, but Tameside were determined that costs should not be allowed to take over they wanted to ensure a better customer experience too. The free school meals system was identified as a pilot project to focus on, with the aim of demonstrating that lower costs and a better customer experience could go hand in hand. Under the then current system, applicants for free school meals often had to come in to the council offices to fill in a form, go to Jobcentre+ to get it stamped, go back to the council office to hand it in, and wait to be contacted by post, up to ten days later. There was an online channel for applicants but it hadnt been well marketed. The council saw a big opportunity to improve the situation through a better understanding of the customer experience.
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Get renewal file from cabinet for the relevant month

Send out letter and renewal form to guardian

Can the application be automatically verified against Locta file containing the councils Pericles benefits data?

NO

See separate flowcharts

YES

Complete & return?

No

Send out reminder renewal letter (one reminder only sent)

Application verified (guarantee same day meal for applications before 11am although probably even later in practice)

Yes

Receive renewal and process as per application process (see flowchart)

Receive email notification summary details confirming with eligibility

EMS Report produced weekly and sent to all schools electronically.

Receive electronic notification via EMS weekly of1. pupils receiving FSM 2 .pupils who have failed to renew

Receive automatic email notification confirming FSM eligibility.

Receive automatic email notification confirming FSM eligibility.

Update schools EMS

system

Letter of confirmation sent to guardian (including those renewing on-line)

Administer free school

meal

File renewal application in relevant months file to aid next annual renewal process.

NB. Notification may also be sent to clothing grant / free travel sections if successfu l applicant has ticked box receive these benefits to also.

System maps were produced for current and ideal experience

APPROACH Tameside used its own Corporate Improvement team to look at steps in the customer journey. They flow-charted the process and worked through the steps to calculate turnaround times and costs at each point. A consideration of the customer base led to the conclusion that there was no need to segment people for this particular service, but the team did map customers geographically to compare take-up levels by area. Having mapped the existing system, an ideal experience was mapped, and this was used to redesign the way applications were made and handled. This was followed up by a customer survey to validate what had been done and monitor levels f ti f ti

FREE SCHOOL MEALS CURRENT JOURNEY

KEY LEARNINGS Greater efficiency and a better customer experience arent at odds with one another often they go hand in hand. Following a process right through allowed the team to understand all implications. In this case, the potential savings of migrating people to the cheaper online channel was realised only when they were able to stick with that channel from start to finish

..(an)application for Free Schools Meals benefits and the associated clothing grant that often required 10 or more contacts to successfully complete can now be done in a single visit

Journeys could also be plotted using customer experience maps

ACTIONS AND OUTCOMES A new, live online application system has replaced the old paper system. It supports both telephone and face to face applications so that, however people come into the system, the same back office process is used. The whole customer experience has been dramatically improved. The process is faster and requires less steps. Applications are pre-populated with known information to avoid duplication, and can now be validated immediately. If someone applies for free school meals before 11.00am their child can receive a meal that day. Great efficiency improvements have also been achieved. Avoidable contact has been reduced by cutting the number of contact points and by flagging mistakes immediately, reducing the need for later rework. The free school meals system has been linked to that for clothing grants, which uses the same eligibility criteria. People applying for the former are now automatically offered the latter, eliminating the need for a separate application. Take-up by channel is being tracked, so that Tameside can monitor channel migration and assess the impact of marketing campaigns. Already, many more people are successfully using the online system from 99 Oxford start to finish, resulting in big cost savings. The cost of a face toStrategic faceMarketing transaction is 10, telephone 1,

MORE ON JOURNEY MAPPING

The Customer Insight Forum is the best starting point for more information. Contact by emailing [email protected] or by telephoning 020 7276 3182.

There are also a number of publications that can tell you more:
Customer Journey Mapping
Guide for Practitioners

Customer Journey Mapping

Guide for Managers

Customer Journey Mapping Module II

Customer Journey Mapping

Expanded toolkit

Section 2

Customer Journey Mapping - Guide for Practitioners is a practical reference document for people who will be carrying out the process of journey mapping.

Customer Journey Mapping - Guide for Managers is relevant to those involved in leading and supporting cross-government service transformation.

A set of four online training modules serves as a quick introduction to journey mapping, and can be found on the CIF website.

An expanded toolkit, also on the CIF website, gives more tools to use in journey mapping.

Oxford Strategic Marketing

Customer Journey Mapping An Introduction

Oxford Strategic Marketing