In today’s digital landscape, customer interactions have grown in complexity and have spread across multiple channels. Yet, the expectation for seamless, frustration-free engagements remains high. Still, many businesses struggle with disjointed business units and systems that obscure the customer journey, creating blind spots in understanding customer motivations, behaviors and histories. This lack of clarity can erode customer loyalty, undermine trust in the brand and negatively impact business outcomes.

In response to these challenges, more brands are turning to customer journey analytics. This technology offers a path to not only measurably improve customer experience but also to drive cost savings and revenue growth. Understanding and implementing journey analytics effectively, however, doesn’t need to be a complex endeavor.

Shift to a Data-Driven Approach

Arvig, an independent US broadband provider, is a prime example of how to do it right. Arvig specialises in internet, TV, voice, security and wireless services, requiring a deep understanding of their customers’ needs and behaviors.

To achieve a whole new level of customer understanding, Arvig used Genesys customer journey analytics to unify interaction data from 11 different systems and 30 event sources. This panoply included the company’s CRM systems, website, email, contact center (IVR and agents), and customer feedback management systems. Crucially, this integration allowed Arvig to gain a comprehensive picture of the customer journey.

“We’re able to visualise where customers originate from when they switch channels, where they go next and why they abandon,” said Elena Weller, Customer Experience Director at Arvig. This newfound clarity has been transformative. “Our management team now has actionable data at their fingertips — a level of insight we couldn’t dream of five years ago,” added Weller.

The shift to this data-driven approach not only provided Arvig with critical insights but also made this information accessible and actionable across the organisation.

“Our CFO mentions almost weekly how nice it is that Genesys puts information in a format that makes it really actionable,” said Weller. This approach showcases the potential of journey analytics to break down data silos and create unified, useable customer overviews that can improve efficiency all around.

Identify Friction and Optimise Customer Journeys

With the ability to visualise customer behavior and understand customer sentiment across any channel and timeframe, customer service, CX and analytics teams can now effectively track the origin of issues within journeys. This level of insight is invaluable in alleviating customer frustrations, which, if left unaddressed, can lead to diminished loyalty, increased churn and escalated costs.

Traditionally, achieving this depth of understanding would require extensive data analysis, often requiring skilled analysts to sift through and interpret data. Now, with technologies like customer journey analytics, business users can identify and address issues directly. Customer journey analytics software offers dual benefits: It supports specific use-case workstreams by answering targeted business questions and it aids in journey management by pinpointing the root cause of issues within existing customer journeys.

“The platform allows us to support specific business queries and manage customer journeys effectively,” said Weller. By analysing data from various sources, Arvig could calculate a baseline ROI for specific customer experience (CX) improvements. It considered factors such as frequency of customer visits, the nature of their issues, and the associated time and cost.

This shift in approach has enabled Arvig to detect suboptimal journeys, like the installation process for new customers. Previously, repeat calls and/or visits from field technicians were common. Now Arvig can analyse service orders, calls and help ticket data to quickly identify and fix issues before they become larger and more expensive problems for the business.

Arvig also used journey analytics to improve construction-project lead times. By examining service installation data, Arvig identified inefficiencies and streamlined its processes.

“We managed to shorten our construction lead times by 12 days, which is crucial for rapidly onboarding new customers and reducing time-to-revenue,” noted Weller.

Such proactive approaches to identifying and solving customer journey issues not only enhance the customer experience but also streamline operational efficiency. By leveraging Genesys technology, Arvig can quickly adapt to their customers’ needs, ensuring a smoother journey and fostering stronger relationships with the brand.

Calculate the Value of Journey Analytics

Demonstrating tangible ROI is a crucial aspect of any business initiative; journey analytics offers a clear pathway to quantifying impacts on CX and broader business outcomes. One of the long-standing challenges in CX has been linking improvements in metrics like Net Promoter Score (NPS) or Customer Satisfaction (CSAT) to concrete business benefits. Journey analytics bridges this gap by directly correlating customer actions and goals with specific KPIs.

This capability is evident in how Arvig uses Genesys journey analytics technology.

“Our initial focus was on reducing churn, but now we view CX more holistically,” explained Weller. “We’ve moved past vague metrics. We can now directly link CX initiatives to specific improvements in CSAT, NPS or cost reductions.”

The ability to measure every step of every customer engagement allows for a deeper understanding of factors influencing key metrics like Customer Effort Score (CES) and digital support fallout rates. Arvig demonstrates how journey analytics can translate CX improvements into meaningful business outcomes, moving beyond abstract metrics to specific, actionable insights that drive business growth and customer satisfaction.

Gain Insights to Boost Your Bottom Line

The impact of journey analytics extends beyond enhancing the overall customer experience; it also brings significant cost savings by identifying behaviors that tend to increase operational costs. For instance, a bank noticing a spike in call volume can use journey analytics to trace customer actions preceding the calls. Discovering an issue with a feature like bill pay on a mobile app enables you to target fixes that can normalise call volumes, saving substantial costs.

Arvig successfully applied this principle, realising significant savings by using journey analytics to understand the reasons behind customer calls and exploring alternate channels for addressing these needs.

“In the last 12 months alone, we’ve identified over $230,000 in contact center cost savings,” reported Weller.

The ability to visualise and measure customer journeys can show you where you’re losing money; it can also facilitate proactive interventions that significantly reduce costs. Arvig clearly illustrates the dual benefits of journey analytics: enhancing customer satisfaction while simultaneously boosting the bottom line.

Shape the Future of CX

In an era where data flows in daily cascades, companies find themselves awash with information from diverse service and digital channels as well as touchpoints that extend beyond the contact center. The challenge continues to lie in creating a cohesive customer view from multiple sources.

Genesys customer journey analytics empowers organisations to gain the full value of data across previously disconnected business units and channels. And it provides a panoramic view of customer interactions, revealing critical insights into customer behavior and journey dynamics. By integrating data across all touchpoints, businesses can see the complete picture, understand how that affects the bottom line and make improvements accordingly.

The Arvig journey demonstrates the full potential of journey analytics in shaping CX and driving business success. Through sophisticated data analysis and experience orchestration, businesses can make informed decisions that not only improve customer journeys but also quantify the impact of these improvements. Journey analytics software is becoming a vital tool for any enterprise that wants to optimise its customer experience, achieve measurable outcomes and meet business goals.

To differentiate themselves in 2024, businesses need to use data at every touchpoint along the customer journey to continually deepen loyalty. Learn more about this and other key CX and EX trends for 2024 in this on-demand webinar.