It’s Time to Re-Invent Customer Journey Mapping for Today’s Banking Customers

Old-school journey mapping, based on customer surveys and walls of Post-It Notes, struggles to capture the complexity of today's customer interactions. Modern journey analysis requires real-time, conversational insights to tease out customers' motivations and desires, not just document their behavior.

Today’s consumers interact with financial institutions digitally across a myriad of channels and platforms, each designed to offer convenience, efficiency and personalization. While banking, payment, and finance management apps are among the most visible touchpoints, they represent just a small fraction of the total interactions people have with their financial services providers.

Others include chatbots and virtual assistants, social media channels and online media, not to mention personalized email communications, SMS alerts and targeted online advertisements that keep consumers informed and — hopefully — engaged. This complexity is present across both legacy financial institutions and newer, digital-first fintech players.

So, with consumers more empowered than ever, in more digital environments than ever before, how can financial services keep up?

Modernizing Customer Journey Analysis

Customer journey mapping programs can help identify the most common (or profitable) pathways so that teams can prioritize efforts, quantify tensions and trigger desired experiences. For both traditional banks and fintech companies, harnessing the most relevant insights can lead to continuous improvement and impact in this highly competitive sector.

Yet the problem is that yesterday’s customer journey mapping programs may not be aligned with today’s rapidly evolving landscape. Traditional research methods often rely on static, point-in-time surveys, which can lead to fragmented insights. Furthermore, such methods may not capture the emotional drivers and critical data points necessary for a comprehensive understanding of the financial consumer’s journey in today’s world — nor the nuance behind consumer decisions-making and actions, taken in the moment.

Fortunately, advancements in mobile and other technologies offer solutions to these challenges. To properly adapt to these evolutions, effective customer journey mapping must engage consumers where they are, using methods that fit seamlessly into their daily lives.

For example, mobile phone-based chat is an integral part of many people’s routines. An estimated 3.09 billion mobile phone users used messaging apps in 2021, with this number expected to rise to 3.51 billion by 2025. Leveraging a mobile chat-based, conversational research methodology can help financial companies of any type to connect with consumers more naturally during their journey, with in-the-moment messaging notifications providing a frictionless, more authentic experience which is conducive to ongoing learning.

Harnessing Conversational Research

By using conversational research techniques which integrate qualitative, quantitative, video, and AI elements within a chat-powered ecosystem, companies can gain more holistic insights into their audiences. This method efficiently captures emotional and contextual insights more effectively than more point-in-time or retrospective research techniques; revealing behaviors, emotions, and context in a single touchpoint.

Modernizing customer journey mapping requires the consideration of several key questions:

What is driving your consumer to seek financial services? Understanding the original motivations behind an individual’s journey is paramount – combining methodologies such as quantitative, qualitative, and observational research can uncover these.

Mobile chat-based research platforms can capture rich data, allowing researchers to hear directly from consumers and understand their needs. Video selfies, for instance, can capture emotional nuances that traditional surveys may miss; thereby providing deeper insights into consumers’ motivations and contexts.

Where are the critical points along the customer pathway? Identifying common and/or profitable pathways helps prioritize efforts to engage individuals at the right moments, as well as pinpointing tensions and pain points along the way. With the right information, financial services companies can streamline processes, alleviate pain points and enhance overall consumer experiences.

Utilizing in-the-moment text messaging notifications can trigger research exercises, bringing in a mix of quantitative surveys, qualitative exercises, video selfies, and passive digital tracking for a comprehensive view of audience behavior. This rich data can help enable timely and effective solutions that drive tangible business results, engaging consumers at precisely the right moments in their – often complex and multi-faceted – journeys.

How can I ensure my insights are used to their fullest potential? Communicating the results of a journey mapping program effectively across different functional teams is crucial. Tailoring deliverables to the needs of innovation teams, user experience teams, brand managers, and executives ensures that insights are actionable. Sharing video feedback humanizes the journey, highlighting tensions and triggers. It may sound obvious but is sometimes forgotten: Ultimately, insights must lead to actionable strategies that inspire teams to improve consumer experiences continuously.

Creating a comprehensive journey mapping program requires a consideration of the entire consumer journey, including post-engagement behaviors such as word-of-mouth and online reviews. The journey doesn’t end at purchase: Ongoing engagement via familiar mediums like mobile chat helps to build authentic, lasting relationships. Traditional financial institutions and fintech companies that are able to master customer journey mapping will be well-positioned to meet the evolving needs of their customers in an ever-changing marketplace.

Leigh Admirand is executive vice president and founding partner at Reach3 Insights, pioneers of mobile-first conversational research methods and technology.

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