Reframe Your Customers\u2019 Journey<\/h2>\n
Catering to the needs of the customer and crafting a better experience for them often requires a reframing of their typical journey<\/a>. Take, for instance, an airline. It\u2019s easy to think of the airline CX beginning the moment a person checks in for their flight, but this is actually a narrow way of framing the experience of flying. For the customer, their experience begins when they make arrangements to travel to the airport. While the airline itself is not involved in this part of this experience, it\u2019s still affected by it. If a customer has a stressful experience getting to the check-in counter, their state of mind is going to impact their CX with the airline.<\/p>\n Minor issues that might otherwise be insignificant can suddenly become huge annoyances in this situation (which, given the airline industry\u2019s rather notorious CX issues,<\/a> is quite a problem). It may not be the airline\u2019s fault that the customer had difficulty getting to the airport, but it certainly has the potential to get their relationship off to a rocky start all the same.<\/p>\n Reframing the customer\u2019s journey can help companies identify the opportunity to establish new touchpoints that can improve the overall CX. By thinking of the customer\u2019s journey beginning with the moment they decide to buy a ticket, an airline can construct an experience<\/a> that reduces the potential for friction and frustration. They could, for instance, offer free or inexpensive transportation to and from the airport or allow them to check-in automatically through mobile GPS when they arrive. Thinking beyond the direct interaction with the customer opens up numerous creative opportunities for CX designers to meet people\u2019s actual needs.<\/p>\n Companies often forget that people don\u2019t generally set out to buy products or services themselves for the sake of buying them. They buy them in order to facilitate some other need. Products and services are a means to an end, not the end themselves. Understanding this distinction can help companies reframe their CX to build a relationship with their customers, allowing them to meet people where they are and helping them get to where they want to be.<\/p>\n Capital One\u2019s recent efforts to appeal to younger customers with their innovative \u201cCapital One Cafe<\/a>\u201d initiative is a good example of how companies can reframe their relationship with customers. While Capital One is still primarily interested in selling financial products<\/a> and services, creating a space where people can buy coffee, sit and work, conduct meetings, and access free wi-fi is tremendously valuable for establishing a relationship with people who could eventually become customers. The cafes offer free money counseling services and provide \u201cambassadors\u201d who can assist customers with a variety of bank-related services (opening accounts, applying for loans, etc). By reframing the role a bank can play in a community, Capital One is attempting to create a new range of touchpoints that will allow them to address the needs of existing and potential customers.<\/p>\n As CX becomes a more important form of brand differentiation, companies must think about how they can make themselves more integral to the customer\u2019s journey and build a better relationship with them throughout that process. By learning more about their customers\u2019 actual needs and understanding what they want, companies can better position themselves to provide products and services that create value and turn those customers into brand advocates.<\/p>\nBuild a Relationship<\/h2>\n
![\"Journey](\"https:\/\/no-cache.hubspot.com\/cta\/default\/3988477\/294cbf7c-8497-458f-89ab-6e54792e6782.png\")
<\/a><\/span>