The customer journey process is the work your own team does behind each stage the customer sees: who replies to the enquiry, who prepares the quote, who books the kick-off, and how fast each of those happens. Customers judge you on the stage they can see. They are actually waiting on the process they cannot. This article answers how to write that behind-the-scenes process down, set response standards for each handoff, and run the repeatable parts as workflows in the levelpartner.ai platform.
Front stage and back stage
Picture two lanes. The front lane holds what the customer experiences: they submit a form, receive a reply, have a call, receive a proposal. The back lane holds what has to happen inside your firm for each of those to occur: a person is assigned, notes are written, a price is checked, a document is prepared.
Delays almost always sit in the back lane, at a handoff between two people. The customer simply sees silence.
Before you start
- A list of your customer-facing stages. The customer journey stages guide helps if you need one.
- One person from each team that touches a customer before and after the sale.
- Access to Automation, Opportunities and Settings for users.
- A rough idea of how long each handoff takes today.
How to set it up
- Under each customer-facing stage, list every internal task that must happen for it to occur.
- Mark each task where work passes from one person or team to another.
- Set a response standard for each handoff, written as a number of working hours.
- In Settings > My Staff, click Add User for anyone missing.
- For each handoff, build a workflow with Assign to User and Add Task actions.
- Add a Send Internal Notification action for the receiving person.
- Add a Stale Opportunities workflow that alerts a manager past the standard.
- Record the completion of each task by moving the opportunity stage or updating a field.
- Review missed standards and stale-deal alerts monthly with each team lead.
Which parts to automate
Automate the handoff, not the judgement. A workflow can assign the next owner, set the deadline, send the customer an acknowledgement and remind the owner. It should not decide the price or the scope.
As a rule, anything that is the same every time is a workflow step. Anything that depends on the customer's situation stays with a person, but the workflow makes sure that person knows it is their turn.
Picture the customer seeing four steps: request a valuation, book a visit, receive a figure, sign instructions. Behind them sit eleven internal tasks and five handoffs. Say the slowest handoff, from valuer to lettings team, takes four working days on average. A workflow that assigns the lettings negotiator the moment the valuer saves the figure, with a one-day standard, could bring that close to one and a half days. These figures are illustrative.
What it replaces
It replaces the handover email, the shared inbox that four people half-watch, and the verbal "can you pick this up" that is forgotten by lunchtime. It also replaces the process manual that describes what should happen without anything that makes it happen.
Time it takes each week
Writing down the process for one journey takes a day with the right people in the room. Building the handoff workflows takes another two to three days. After that, budget about 30 minutes a week to clear escalations and an hour a month to review handoff times.
The mistake most people make
Assigning work to named people instead of roles. When someone leaves or is on holiday, every workflow that names them stops working. Assign to a team or a role, and let the platform distribute the work within it.
When not to formalise it
If one person handles a customer from enquiry to delivery, there are no handoffs to manage. Formalising the process only adds steps. The method is worth it once a customer passes through two or more pairs of hands. For the customer-facing view of the same journey, see customer journey steps.
Troubleshooting
Tasks are created but not completed
The receiving team does not check tasks. Show open tasks on the dashboard they use daily, or send a morning summary of their open items.
Escalations fire constantly
The standard is unrealistic for current staffing. Raise it to what the team can meet, then tighten it once the backlog clears.
Handoff times cannot be measured
Nothing records when the task finished. Tie completion to a stage move or a field update so every handover leaves a dated record.
The process differs by office or team
Write one shared process and allow local differences only in who is assigned. Different sequences in each office make reporting meaningless. A customer journey framework keeps the shared rules in one place.
Frequently asked questions
Is this the same as a service blueprint?
It is close. A service blueprint is the formal name for the two-lane view. This article uses the same idea and adds the workflows that run it.
How detailed should the internal tasks be?
Detailed enough that a new starter could follow them. Usually three to eight tasks per stage.
Can customers see the internal process?
No. They see the acknowledgements and updates your workflows send. Those updates should tell them what happens next and when, which removes most "any news?" calls. The customer journey management guide explains how to watch for stalled contacts.