Picture this: a company invests weeks mapping its customer journey, running workshops, interviewing customers, and building a beautifully visualised “current and future state” journey. Everyone nods in agreement at the findings. Then the deck and wireframes get filed away, and nothing changes.
It’s a common trap. While 82% of organisations have created a customer journey map, fewer than half (47%) actually use them effectively¹. That means most businesses are pouring energy into understanding their customers but never turning that insight into impact.
The cost of this inaction is higher than you think…
So when organisations do act, they see results… 13–22% ROI gains⁶ and nearly 90% report improved CX performance metrics⁷
Customer journey mapping is a powerful diagnostic; it reveals what customers think, feel, and do, and highlights the pain points affecting them. But a map alone won’t move the needle. The real value comes when organisations use those insights to redesign the processes behind the journey. That’s where friction is reduced, retention grows, and customer experience becomes a genuine competitive advantage.
This article explores how to make that shift: moving from static maps to actionable process improvements that increase lifetime value and deliver measurable impact.
The first step is translating customer pain into business action. Start by analysing your journey map for friction points, moments where customers feel frustration, confusion, or delay.
You can use a simple Friction log to help you prioritise by asking…
Example: If 20% of new customers abandon onboarding due to confusing account setup, that’s a high-frequency, high-impact problem worth urgent attention.
Once you’ve prioritised, the next step is designing solutions that reduce friction and add value. A structured approach helps:
The goal here isn’t complexity but clarity, speed, and customer confidence.
Most customer pain arises not in the big moments, but in the handoffs between teams, systems, or channels. With over half of customers saying handoffs require high effort from them⁸. In our experience, these include:
The lead-to-cash process is a prime example. Friction here directly erodes revenue and loyalty.
Practical steps:
No matter how well-designed the process, change will fail without people on board. Successful process transformation requires structured change management:
Employees who understand and believe in the change deliver better outcomes for customers.
Finally, improvements must be measured and communicated. Without evidence of impact, momentum fades. A recent Harvard Business Review study found that customers who have the best customer experiences spend 140% more compared to those with poor experiences⁹.
Key metrics to track:
Customer journey maps are a powerful starting point, but they’re not the destination. The real value comes from:
The organisations that get this right don’t just remove pain, they build loyalty, increase lifetime value, and reduce the spiralling cost of customer acquisition.
²https://churnzero.com/blog/customer-journey-mapping-go-to-market/
³https://www.serviceinstitute.com/service-excellence/7-ways-to-delight-and-retain-your-customers/
⁴https://www.demandsage.com/customer-retention-statistics/?.com
⁷https://inmoment.com/blog/customer-journey-mapping/
⁹https://hbr.org/2014/08/the-value-of-customer-experience-quantified