What is the customer journey, and how do you build this path?

The customer journey is the path a person or organisation follows when a need emerges, they consider alternatives, buy, use an offer and decide whether to continue the relationship. It is not the same as the company funnel. The funnel observes stages from the company’s perspective, while the journey reconstructs the experience from the customer’s point of view.

A useful map is not a poster full of arrows. It is an evidence-based representation connecting stages, goals, questions, touchpoints, emotions and obstacles. It reveals where customers lose trust and which company functions need to intervene.

Which stages does the customer journey include?

There is no sequence that applies to every market. An initial structure might include discovery of the problem, research, evaluation, purchase, activation, use, support and renewal. B2B may add internal agreement, technical assessment, financial approval and negotiation. In B2C, several stages can happen within minutes.

Name stages after what the customer is trying to achieve rather than company departments. “Comparing alternatives” is more useful than “marketing”; “obtaining approval” reveals more than “sales”. The map then avoids simply reproducing the organisation chart.

How do you create a customer journey map?

First define the scope: segment, scenario, starting point and final outcome. A map of the complete relationship may become too generic. It can be more useful to focus, for example, on the transition from requesting a proposal to starting the service.

Gather evidence from interviews, support tickets, sales calls, analytics, reviews and observation. For every stage, describe:

• what the customer wants to achieve;
• which questions or concerns arise;
• which touchpoints they use;
• which actions they take;
• where they encounter friction;
• which evidence supports the reconstruction.

Separate observed behaviour from interpretation. “Three customers abandoned the form at the document request” is evidence. “They do not trust us” is an assumption to test.

Which touchpoints should you consider?

A touchpoint is a moment of direct or indirect contact with the company, product or its reputation. It can be a search, review, advertisement, telephone call, contract, delivery, interface or support request.

Do not limit the map to channels controlled by marketing. The invoice, response time and clarity of a procedure may influence the experience more than a campaign. Include moments when customers talk with colleagues, family or advisers without contacting the business.

The Nielsen Norman Group describes journey maps through elements such as the actor, scenario, phases, actions, thoughts, emotions and opportunities. This structure is useful but should be adapted to the decision you need to make.

What changes between B2B and B2C customer journeys?

Several people may participate in a B2B journey. A user discovers the problem, a manager builds the internal case, IT checks compatibility and procurement negotiates. Representing roles in separate lanes makes stages and dependencies visible.

A B2C journey may have greater volume and richer digital data, but it is not necessarily linear. Someone may see a product online, try it in a shop, ask for advice and buy from a marketplace. The map should include these transitions without forcing them into one sequence.

How do you use the map to make decisions?

Prioritise opportunities at the end. Consider the severity of the problem, number of people affected, financial value, feasibility and strategic consistency. Do not turn every note into a project.

Connect priorities to specific indicators: completion, time, support contacts, conversion, activation or renewal. Assign an owner and review date. The map becomes useful when it changes a decision and is updated with new learning, not when it remains on the wall.

How do you represent more complex journeys?

Create distinct layers when several people participate. In B2B, users may seek simplicity, IT compatibility and management risk control. The account journey emerges from the interaction between their individual journeys. Reducing them to one line creates a tidy but unconvincing map.

Include what happens outside owned touchpoints. Customers consult colleagues, search engines, communities and third-party documentation. You cannot control every moment, but you can determine which evidence needs to be easy to find and share.

For every transition, record the owner, system and information that needs to continue. If nobody owns the stage between the form submission and the follow-up call, redesigning the form will not solve the problem. Preserve dated versions and review them when segments, processes or behaviour change.