The customer journey is a concept that organizations are increasingly seeking to understand and explore in depth. This is beneficial for the company, which, with this concern, tends to stand out in the market; for consumers, who see their expectations met and feel valued; and, therefore, for the market in general.
But I would like to reflect with you on the following: to what extent has the concern with the customer journey already moved from theory to practice? I am proposing that we arrive at this question: where are the bottlenecks that prevent us from providing customers with a truly unique experience in all phases of this relationship?
I understand that one of the crucial bottlenecks is in the systems. Digital transformation is already understood as essential, not as a luxury or a differentiator; however, it is possible to advance even further in this transformation when we talk about the relationship between the company and its audience.
It is still common to see situations like this: a company invests considerably to present an attractive and innovative product or service to the market; it invests in extremely successful promotional campaigns, even resorting to influencers who bring attention to the brand, but... when the consumer goes to make the purchase or get in touch to ask a question, the technological infrastructure cannot handle that demand.
The contact channels are not properly integrated, automation is faulty (if it exists at all), the website cannot handle increased traffic, inventory control is inefficient, and therefore the customer cannot satisfy that need, that desire for which they were motivated by the beautiful, engaging, competent (and expensive) campaign. From the expectation of complete satisfaction to the reality of absolute frustration.
The customer's journey then becomes the worst possible. Not due to a lack of awareness of this importance on the part of the company, nor because of a lack of concern, creativity, or skills to promote an engaging journey, but due to technical and technological insufficiency, which ruins everything.
With this example, which unfortunately is not an exception when analyzing the market reality, I illustrate how organizations should pay attention to the incorporation of technology into their processes and workflows. Technological tools and functionalities should serve both internally and in a company's external relationships – including promoting the customer journey.
Technological solutions must be integrated and form an innovation ecosystem to serve the proper functioning of the organization, its viability and sustainability in the market, and the complete satisfaction of the consumer. This is the true digital transformation.
By Miriã Plens, partner at Grupo Irrah, which develops technological solutions for centralizing and automating contacts
