What You Don’t Understand About Your Customers Could be Your Biggest Barrier to Growth
Steve Jobs famously remarked, “If Henry Ford had asked his customers what they wanted, they would have said a faster horse.” This observation is often misinterpreted to suggest that customers don’t know what they want, leaving innovators to decide for them.
But this misses an essential truth: while customers may not articulate a solution, they are clear about their needs and pain points. If Ford’s had asked customers, he may have realized they didn’t literally want a faster horse—they wanted faster, more efficient transportation. The genius of the most successful product leaders isn’t in ignoring customer input but in interpreting it to guide product innovation that solves customers’ underlying needs in new and exciting ways.
Understanding customer needs isn’t just about building the right product; it’s essential for marketing effectively, selling to value, and delivering outcomes that sustain long-term customer success. Customer journey mapping is a critical tool for uncovering this context, but only when done right.
The Problem: Journey Maps Through the Company’s Lens
Too often, journey maps are created from a company-centric perspective, documenting interactions with a product or service but missing the broader context of the customer’s experience. These maps highlight touchpoints—when a customer buys, contacts support, renews, or upgrades—but fail to reflect the customer’s entire journey, including the challenges they face beyond the company’s influence.
The reality is that a customer’s success with your product doesn’t happen in isolation. It’s shaped by:
People: Key stakeholders within the customer’s organization who influence adoption and usage.
Processes: Internal workflows that may align with—or be disrupted by—your solution.
Technologies: Other systems that complement or conflict with your product.
Without considering these factors, companies risk developing blind spots. These gaps can lead to unrealistic assumptions about how customers achieve success, resulting in missed opportunities to create value or address potential risks.
The Impact of Getting Journey Mapping Right
When journey maps are built from the customer’s perspective, they become a powerful strategic tool that benefits every part of the organization:
Sales: Gain a clearer understanding of customer pain points and priorities, enabling value-driven conversations and more effective positioning of your solution.
Product Management: Uncover gaps in how your product fits into customer workflows, driving innovation and enhancing product-market fit.
Customer Success: Proactively identify friction points in customer operations, improving retention and renewal rates.
Marketing: Craft messaging that aligns with customer needs at every stage of their journey, increasing engagement and conversion rates.
Leadership: Use journey insights to identify growth opportunities, differentiate in the market, and strengthen profitability.
Journey mapping done right provides a unified framework for aligning teams, prioritizing initiatives, and driving measurable business outcomes.
Why Every Company Needs Customer Journey Maps
Whether your company is a startup, a scale-up, or an enterprise, understanding the customer’s journey at a high level is non-negotiable. While the level of detail and granularity may vary, the goal remains the same: to view the journey from the customer’s perspective.
For early-stage companies, journey maps can clarify how your product fits into the broader ecosystem and highlight opportunities to stand out in the market.
For established businesses, journey maps reveal inefficiencies, new revenue streams, and areas for innovation—helping you stay competitive in an evolving landscape.
Regardless of company size or maturity, the most effective journey maps illuminate the path from customer pain points to business outcomes, enabling every team to work with clarity and purpose.
The Questions Every Business Leader Should Ask
As a leader, your success depends on understanding how your product drives customer outcomes. Consider these key questions:
How does using your product help your customers achieve specific business outcomes? Which outcomes?
What other people, processes, and technologies are involved in achieving the customer’s desired outcome?
Where are the biggest frustrations, hurdles, or points of friction that get in the way of achieving the desired outcome?
How would the customer calculate ROI on their investment in your product?
If you struggle to answer several of these questions, it’s time to dig in. Journey mapping from the customer’s perspective can uncover the clarity you need to chart a new path to accelerated growth.
A Call to Action
Customer journey mapping is more than a tactical exercise—it’s a strategic imperative. Understanding your customer’s broader journey isn’t just about enhancing their experience; it’s about aligning your organization to deliver value where it matters most.
If you’re ready to move beyond the touchpoints and uncover the bigger picture, start by asking the right questions. The answers may transform your approach—and your business.