Changes

I had no idea what ‘journey mapping’ 'journey mapping' was until I read this playbook but any business that engages with their customers will benefit from reading the book and acting on the contents. You’re You're going to learn how to run a workshop to discover what it feels like to be one of your own customers. At this point, please don’t don't say ‘oh 'oh (expletive deleted) not another workshop’ workshop' because this is going to be fun and you’re you're going to be surprised by what emerges.

Think of journey mapping as a process with three clear elements, the most important of which is how you act after you have completed the workshop. You’ll You'll be taken through the preparation for running the event, facilitating on the day and then analysing and acting on what you have learned.

Back in another life, I attended a seminar to discuss the customer experience of the organisation for which I worked. Reading ‘’The ''The Journey Mapping Playbook’’ Playbook'' felt like coming home. At that stage ‘the 'the customer experience’ experience' was a fairly new concept but is now more widely recognised. If this playbook had been available then I suspect that ‘’my’’ ''my'' experience would have been rather better.

The strength of the playbook is that it engages your attention from the very first page. Jerry Angrave tells the story of a top-25 accountancy firm who claim to put ‘customer 'customer experience at the heart of everything we do’do'. The only problem with this is that a senior partner was not prepared to ask the customer about their experience unless they could bill the client for the time taken! ‘’Cash ''Cash is king’’king'', he said. What he failed to appreciate was that more money could be made if they paid more attention to what the customer actually wanted.

Have you ever looked at the result of a customer survey and thought ‘WOW'WOW, a 90% approval rating’ rating' and thought that this is a company that I’d I'd like to do business with? After you’ve you've read the playbook you might be rather more sceptical: in the example quoted the customer survey had only measured for feedback those customers who had received the good and had not complained or returned anything. A separate analysis, measuring all customers’ customers' responses found a satisfaction rating in the mid-sixties. This isn’t isn't a ‘’bad’’ ''bad'' rating, but the 90% rating was not a true reflection of how the customers felt.

One of the great strengths of the playbook is the storytelling. Angrave has a multitude of anecdotes about customer experience. They’re They're vivid and make for great, easy reading whilst still delivering the point in a very accessible way. You’ll You'll find ‘lightbulb’ 'lightbulb' tips in the margins on most pages and they’re they're gold dust. There are illustrations on most pages, but they’re they're not space fillers: the demonstrate the points being made and add clarity.

The book was a pleasure to read and gave food for thought about the voluntary organisation of which I’m I'm now a member. I’d I'd like to thank the publishers for sending a copy to the Bookbag.