What Is the Optimal Pattern of a Customer Journey?

Even though customer experience (CX) leaders are becoming increasingly focused on optimizing their firms’ customer journeys, they face a clear challenge: Which touchpoints along the journey should they invest in? That is, which moments when the customer interacts with their brand are most impactful to the customer’s overall experience? One way to think of customer journeys is as continuous patterns of mental experiences traced over time. Thinking of customer journeys as patterns raises a new set of productive questions, such as: Which patterns are most successful? And what features of those patterns lead to success? Some have argued that the best patterns are smooth and frictionless, while others have made the case for patterns that fluctuate, given that they are likely to be more eventful and stimulating. This article covers research and data on which patterns are most effective, and where CX managers should be investing their limited resources for the best possible customer experience outcomes.