Customer Journey Mapping

Every business has a unique customer journey that depends on many constantly changing factors. The vertical, customer base, company size, business model, and maturity of the industry all influence the experience of the customer through every stage. Mapping out each of the stages, the actions of customers, roles of employees, and the considerations to improve the experience are essential to ensure Customer Success.

For Climate Tech SaaS companies, it’s particularly important that value and results are delivered at each stage in the customer journey to support the Climate Success goals that are shared by all stakeholders. This focus on driving towards goals that play a part in solving the climate crisis builds trust, educates a larger group of people, and is more efficient. Climate Tech companies need to understand the internal and external drivers for why their customers are taking action to reduce emissions and make other sustainable development improvements. After motivations and actions are documented for each stage, the detailed assessment of interactions and sentiment can be investigated. With this comprehensive view of the customer journey, companies can analyze how to improve the experience holistically. 

Applying what I’ve learned from journey mapping activities across multiple sectors along with my education in the Climate Crisis and the energy transition, I’ve learned what makes this activity unique for Climate Tech SaaS companies. Some key differences that I pull into my workshops include: 

  • Considering the influence of regulations, mandated and voluntary policy, and public sustainability commitments. Regulatory headwinds and tailwinds can change the externalities that Climate Tech companies face much more quickly than other industries. 

  • The need to layer in a broader set of stakeholders that may include other service providers and solutions in the Climate Tech space. 

  • Differences in the TAM and market segmentation for customers compared to other B2B SaaS companies. This requires unique considerations related to customer acquisition and retention. 

  • Stakeholder sentiment and measure of success will vary depending on the market the Climate Tech company is working in. This requires the GTM team to develop unique and technical points of view when working with customers.   

Journey Mapping Activities

  • Define Success Metrics

    Goals often include improving customer retention, driving engagement, increasing solution adoption, or driving user advocacy for climate impact. In Climate Tech there’s often an additional layer in measuring impactful outcomes related to customers’ sustainability objectives.

  • Analyze Customer Data

    Product usage analytics, support interactions, customer feedback, and sustainability reports are possible sources for understanding the customer experience. Third party reports or media coverage may also influence work with customer and should be considered in journey mapping.

  • Catalog Stakeholders

    Every sector has unique challenges and regulatory needs, which could impact the way users engage with the platform and services. By tailoring journey maps for key segments, we can create a roadmap that aligns with the specific needs of customers.

  • Identify Touchpoints

    Reaching back to the first moment your customer becomes aware of your company, every touchpoint is important. There are often complex hardware and system integration requirements that must be considered in Climate Tech solutions. There may also be touchpoints from people who don’t directly use your solutions but benefit from them in your customer’s organization. All of these must be identified prior to sentiment evaluations.

  • Sentiment Evaluations

    Each touchpoint and moment customers experience with you will carry a sentiment value. Pain points might arise while integrating data sources or confusion surfaces while evaluating complex data reports. Recognizing these areas informs where to prioritize product education, improve feature guidance, or adjust support to better serve climate tech software users in ways that support both their operational and environmental goals.

  • Opportunities to Improve

    An ideal customer journey streamlines workflows, helping users measure and meet their environmental goals more efficiently. While it may not be feasible to address all the opportunities for improvement immediately, this output provides a cross-departmental roadmap for team consideration.

✺ Frequently asked questions ✺

  • With worksheets and collecting data and resources in advance, a customer journey mapping workshop can be completed in as little as one day. The output should then be revisited on a quarterly basis to ensure that it reflects current touchpoints and experiences.

  • It can often be beneficial to having someone from outside your organization assist with a mapping exercise because they bring a fresh perspective to what your customers and staff experience. The questions that all us to document the customer journey are based in CX best practices and playbooks.

  • Alignment and a common understanding for the customer experience are the top benefits of completing this exercise. This will drive more efficient meetings, better customer service, and roadmaps that are addressing the top needs of your customers. A Customer Journey is also used in other key Customer Success activities like Territory Planning and employee training.