Do You Know What Your Energy Takers And Energy Givers Are?

Knowing what your energy takers and energy givers are is an important step in managing your personal energy and productivity. Energy takers are too much screen time, overthinking, clutter and mess, dehydration, sitting for too long, and setting unrealistic goals. Energy givers are sunlight, nourishing food, exercise, fresh air, music, meaningful work, and laughter.


Source: Colby Kultgen

 

What About The Energy Takers And Energy Givers In Your Journey Portfolio?

Each time a customer embarks on a journey with you, it can create or destroy value, not only for that customer but for your firm. Just like in our personal lives, some customer journeys are value-positive. They leave customers feeling like they’ve gained more than they’ve given: These are the energy givers of the journey world. Then there are the value-negative journeys — the energy drainers that frustrate customers and diminish their overall perception of your brand.

a piggy bank where value negtive journeys are withdrawals and value positive ones are deposits

 

Optimize Journey Value For Customers And Your Firm: Journey And Journey Portfolio

If you see too many value-negative journeys dragging down your overall value equation, it’s time to roll up your sleeves and get to work: Identify the critical pain points, experiment with design changes, and find ways to turn those energy drainers into energy givers. Your customers — and your bottom line — will thank you. You must optimize value for the customer and the business on two levels:

1. An individual journey — what’s the value balance?

As you work on journeys, always remember that a customer journey is a lifecycle, not a process: A customer journey is a customer’s paths and perceptions as they pursue a goal.

Knowing the value of a journey for you and your customers is the first step in deciding how to manage the journey.

  • Customer journeys are either value-positive, value-neutral, or value-negative. And that goes for your firm and your customers.
  • If the journey is value-negative for a customer (e.g., a lot of extraneous friction), they might not complete it. As a result, you might consider process improvements to make it easier. You’ll most likely make that decision only if you think that the changed journey remains value-positive for you (e.g., higher completion).

2. A journey portfolio — what’s the journey’s role in the value of the portfolio?

You must optimize value for the overall portfolio, not just for individual journeys.

  • A journey portfolio comprises all the customer journeys in which your firm plays a meaningful role.
  • Each individual journey can change a customer’s value perceptions of the overall journey portfolio and of your firm. That’s the “piggy bank” we show above. Value-positive journeys are deposits, and value-negative journeys are withdrawals. This also applies to the value for your firm: There are journeys that replenish the overall business value and those that deplete it.
  • For example, a bank optimizing the account-opening journey in isolation might miss that it’s one of the first journeys that customers go on. As such, it sets the tone for the relationship and all following journeys. By considering the portfolio, the bank may invest more in the onboarding journey. Even more than what the bank gets out of it immediately, knowing the long-term benefits will make up for it.

Want To Find Out More About How To Assess And Optimize Journey Value For Customers And The Business?

If you are a Forrester client, we have two brand-new reports for you to energize your 2025 journey strategy!

Reach out for a guidance session or inquiry with my coauthor and colleague, Maxie Schmidt, or with me. We have created checklists to help you assess journey value for customers and your firm. And we are “itching” to get practical and use this with you to energize your journey portfolio and strategy!