REFLECTION - VISUALIZATION - A TAILORING EXPERIENCE

CHALLENGE I am the manager of a small company based in Cameroon, specializing in custom-made suits. And our big challenge is to bring the experience we offer in the workshop, IRL, with sartorial experts who know how to advise customers, reassure them and demonstrate our expertise, to our customers who contact us online.  We must succeed in reassuring customers who contact us online about the quality of our products, the creation process and the seriousness of the brand. We have named this project: A TAILORING EXPERIENCE. The customer must be able to make an appointment in complete serenity, knowing that they will be listened to, advised and will leave the process with a product that fully satisfies them: from the online contact to the delivery of the finished product, including the taking of customer measurements. The actors we have gathered for this challenge: the workshop manager and master tailor, the operations manager, the inventory manager, the IT developers, the marketing and sales manager, our main fabric supplier and the finance manager.

SELECTION The tool we used to set up our project was Visualization, or Visual Thinking. We needed to have a clear understanding of the different points of interaction with customers and stakeholders in this experience. Each customer touch point should be able to show which tools were the most appropriate, whether to develop new ones or improve the existing one, and most importantly, how to materialize them offline and online. This allowed us to reach a common understanding of a problem space among a diverse group of stakeholders before trying to identify and define possible solutions to the problem. Objective: to reassure the client both OFFLINE and ONLINE about the quality of our work, our expertise and the seriousness of our company.

APPLICATION We applied visualization starting from the customer journey. We already had information about the personas we wanted to serve and what their pain points were. Now, the question was to be able to understand exactly how the customer behaves once in contact with us, and how to provide the best service at each entry point. We're a small organization, so we couldn't do full groups, so each manager had to take on the role of their department, and give their opinion on the different touch points. The customer journey for us can be summarized in a few points: 1 - Contact on social networks: what action do we want from the customer? 1" - Contact on our website: what action do we want from the customer? 2 - Explanation of the need and making an appointment 3 - Measurement of the customer 4 - Styling: Validation of materials, cut and finishes 4 - Making of the clothes 5 - Fittings (1 or more) 6 - Delivery.

We used a large white board on which we marked the different steps with drawings showing the interactions and the people or tools involved.

We gave everyone post-its. The problem being posed at the top of the board: To live a unique and reassuring experience from start to finish. At each point: We asked 5 questions that everyone had to answer. I, as the founder and manager, refrained from answering, letting the team exchange freely without being biased by my ideas.

- What is the action expected from the client?

- How do we ensure that the client takes the next step?

- What question can be answered before it arises?

- Who would be the best person to talk to?

- What tool would be most appropriate for this exchange?

I left 30 minutes, then we posted the different answers under each step. This was done with as many drawings and graphics as possible. Then, everyone went to see the answers of the others posted. Then, we grouped the answers into 3 categories: REASSURE - RAISE SHADOWS - TAKE ACTION. Afterwards, a round table discussion was held to ask each person to explain how they saw their ideal customer journey, commenting on their choices for each stage, with drawings. We therefore retained 3 customer paths, a combination of different answers, which we summarized with the tools we could effectively put in place fairly quickly with our limited resources. And above all, the actions expected at each stage with the right interlocutors, and how the different stakeholders could contribute to improving the selected paths, the interactions, so that it would be the most fluid and transparent for the customer.

INSIGHT With this approach of visualizing the problems, we have allowed everyone to feel concerned and to realize the impact of each one in the interactions with the final customer for the best possible experience. We quickly realize that each department has different constraints, and the fact that everything is in front of us allows us to quickly take a more global view of things and feel more involved. For example, the master tailor quickly realized the challenge of marketing and sales, the information they need to reassure customers, and finance understands that we need to have inventory to propose items to the customer, and not go back and forth with suppliers. Because we need to be able to serve the customer with as little friction as possible, it saves time to everyone.

APPROACH Given the positive impact of visualization in the implementation of the different scenarios of our project, we will apply the principles of visualization on all our projects. We will include all stakeholders as early as possible to ensure that we really innovate in our solution. We will be able to raise as many questions as possible. Moreover, the design thinking approach with the customer journey is essential to understand the customer's needs, and there is nothing better than asking them directly, and asking them to visually describe what they expect from a tailor. This provides essential information to build customer journeys that they value and products that effectively meet their needs. This way, each stakeholder has upstream real information on what the end customer experiences and expects.


REFLECTION - VISUALIZATION - A TAILORING EXPERIENCE CHALLENGE I am the manager of a small company based in Cameroon , specializing in custom - made suits . And our big challenge is to bring the experience we offer in the workshop , IRL , with sartorial experts who know how to advise customers , reassure them and demonstrate our expertise , to our customers who contact us online . We must succeed in reassuring customers who contact us online about the quality of our products , the creation process and the seriousness of the brand . We have named this project : A TAILORING EXPERIENCE . The customer must be able to make an appointment in complete serenity , knowing that they will be listened to , advised and will leave the process with a product that fully satisfies them : from the online contact to the delivery of the finished product , including the taking of customer measurements . The actors we have gathered for this challenge : the workshop manager and master tailor , the operations manager , the inventory manager , the IT developers , the marketing and sales manager , our main fabric supplier and the finance manager . SELECTION The tool we used to set up our project was Visualization , or Visual Thinking . We needed to have a clear understanding of the different points of interaction with customers and stakeholders in this experience . Each customer touch point should be able to show which tools were the most appropriate , whether to develop new ones or improve the existing one , and most importantly , how to materialize them offline and online . This allowed us to reach a common understanding of a problem space among a diverse group of stakeholders before trying to identify and define possible solutions to the problem . Objective : to reassure the client both OFFLINE and ONLINE about the quality of our work , our expertise and the seriousness of our company . APPLICATION We applied visualization starting from the customer journey . We already had information about the personas we wanted to serve and what their pain points were . Now , the question was to be able to understand exactly how the customer behaves once in contact with us , and how to provide the best service at each entry point . We 're a small organization , so we could n't do full groups , so each manager had to take on the role of their department , and give their opinion on the different touch points . The customer journey for us can be summarized in a few points : 1 - Contact on social networks : what action do we want from the customer ? 1 " - Contact on our website : what action do we want from the customer ? 2 - Explanation of the need and making an appointment 3 - Measurement of the customer 4 - Styling : Validation of materials , cut and finishes 4 - Making of the clothes 5 - Fittings ( 1 or more ) 6 - Delivery . We used a large white board on which we marked the different steps with drawings showing the interactions and the people or tools involved . We gave everyone post - its . The problem being posed at the top of the board : To live a unique and reassuring experience from start to finish . At each point : We asked 5 questions that everyone had to answer . I , as the founder and manager , refrained from answering , letting the team exchange freely without being biased by my ideas . - What is the action expected from the client ? - How do we ensure that the client takes the next step ? - What question can be answered before it arises ? - Who would be the best person to talk to ? - What tool would be most appropriate for this exchange ? I left 30 minutes , then we posted the different answers under each step . This was done with as many drawings and graphics as possible . Then , everyone went to see the answers of the others posted . Then , we grouped the answers into 3 categories : REASSURE - RAISE SHADOWS - TAKE ACTION . Afterwards , a round table discussion was held to ask each person to explain how they saw their ideal customer journey , commenting on their choices for each stage , with drawings . We therefore retained 3 customer paths , a combination of different answers , which we summarized with the tools we could effectively put in place fairly quickly with our limited resources . And above all , the actions expected at each stage with the right interlocutors , and how the different stakeholders could contribute to improving the selected paths , the interactions , so that it would be the most fluid and transparent for the customer . INSIGHT With this approach of visualizing the problems , we have allowed everyone to feel concerned and to realize the impact of each one in the interactions with the final customer for the best possible experience . We quickly realize that each department has different constraints , and the fact that everything is in front of us allows us to quickly take a more global view of things and feel more involved . For example , the master tailor quickly realized the challenge of marketing and sales , the information they need to reassure customers , and finance understands that we need to have inventory to propose items to the customer , and not go back and forth with suppliers . Because we need to be able to serve the customer with as little friction as possible , it saves time to everyone . APPROACH Given the positive impact of visualization in the implementation of the different scenarios of our project , we will apply the principles of visualization on all our projects . We will include all stakeholders as early as possible to ensure that we really innovate in our solution . We will be able to raise as many questions as possible . Moreover , the design thinking approach with the customer journey is essential to understand the customer 's needs , and there is nothing better than asking them directly , and asking them to visually describe what they expect from a tailor . This provides essential information to build customer journeys that they value and products that effectively meet their needs . This way , each stakeholder has upstream real information on what the end customer experiences and expects .