Hands up if you’ve seen a workflow map. I saw my first one when I attended my Grade 9 “Take Your Kid to Work Day” with my dad. If this than that. Logical. Linear.
And from an operational perspective, it tells a valuable story about what comes next.
But what if that's only half of the story?
While our organizations manage workflows, our customers are living through something entirely different.
A workflow describes what the organization needs to do next. And it is 100% controllable by the organization.
A journey reflects what the customer is experiencing next. And it is 0% controllable by the organization; although it can be influenced by it.
While they seem connected, they're actually two entirely different systems operating in parallel. Like sprinters running side by side, who aren’t allowed to leave their lane.
The organization measures progress through completed tasks.
The customer measures progress through growing confidence. And they absolutely DON’T measure it by the number of tasks the organization has completed 😉
Now, not only are these different lanes, but just like sprinters, they aren’t always in sync. A business workflow may move faster than the customer’s confidence. And the workflow itself may or may not influence the customer's confidence as much as we would like.
What happens then?
One of the biggest assumptions we make is that if the workflow is progressing, the customer must feel like progress is being made too.
But that's rarely true.
I mean, if you’ve even been through a claims process, you know. A claim can move from one adjuster to another, or one department to another without the policyholder knowing anything has happened.
The workflow is moving.
Yet, the customer journey has stalled.
I recently completed a home insurance claim, where I received a claim sign-off request. After I had requested a clean-up. A clean-up that wasn’t completed.
The workflow moved right along, but my request (and therefore, my experience) got left behind with the mess of siding staples.
And what happens in that scenario? More customer confidence?
Nope-ity, nope, nope.
Not because the workflow failed.
Because it got disconnected from the customer side of the equation.
So, if we are running in one lane, and our customer is running in another, and ne’er the twain shall meet, how do we bridge the gap?
Communication :)
Every message has the opportunity to connect those two timelines. To answer questions before they're asked. To reduce uncertainty before it becomes frustration. To give people confidence the process is moving, even when they can't see every step behind the scenes.
In other words, communication doesn't just explain the workflow.
It helps customers move through their journey smoothly, building confidence in the product (or service) they’ve bought from us.
The organizations creating exceptional customer experiences aren't simply optimizing internal workflows. They're keeping the two parallel timelines aligned.
After all, the most successful customer journeys aren't the ones with the fewest workflow steps. Or the greatest number of automated steps.
They're the ones where customers never feel lost between those steps.
That's the real opportunity.
In recognizing that every workflow has a parallel customer journey. AND that communication is what keeps them moving together.
And while the workflow will always belong to the organization, the journey will always belong to the customer. And without those customers, our workflows don’t mean very much.
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At SPLICE, we believe communication is more than an output of your systems—it's the connective tissue between operational excellence and customer confidence. By orchestrating communication across voice, SMS, chat, email, and digital channels, organizations can keep technical workflows and human journeys moving together, creating experiences that don't just process work efficiently, but help people move forward with confidence.