Create CX Master Plan for one of the world's largest ferry operators

BC Ferries connects coastal British Columbia. Residents and visitors rely on their service to connect communities, from Vancouver to Haida Gwaii. Businesses rely on their service to connect economies and to deliver the goods needed. BC Ferries make it possible for residents of small islands to access essential services and be able to visit loved ones. For tourists, it is the only method of transportation to many of BC's natural wonders.

PH1 was contracted to create a new Customer Experience master plan. This plan would define the CX vision for the organisation, as well as the strategies and objectives to reach that destination. The master plan would influence short-term and long-term directives and initiatives across all teams.

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The Customer Experience Master Plan guides the operation and new builds of 47 terminals and 36 vessels

BC Ferries' 47 terminals and 36 vessels span a variety of customer types, use cases, and special regional considerations. Passengers include visitors seeking a once-in-a-lifetime vacation, commuters who use the service multiple times daily, and a growing group of intermodal travellers. The customer experience master plan had to address all of these needs alongside the realities of an industry that is recovering from the pandemic and committed to ambituous environmental targets. The CEO was a driving force for making this plan more actionable and impact-oriented than any before.

Our mission, as the CX consultant for BC Ferries, was to consult the executives and the customer experience team to deliver a master plan. This plan would be achieved by:

Evaluating the current customer experience through data
Assessing how best-in-class transportation operator elevate their CX
Conducting an in-person audit of the network to identify areas for improvement
Mapping the passenger journey to enable teams to understand the many impacting factors
Interviewing passengers to prioritize pain points and explore expectations
Facilitating executive and planning committee workshops to define the vision and strategy
Leading a consultation process with employees to gain buy-in and additional perspective on the employee experience
Delivering a customer experience master plan that elevates the entire organization

PH1 was responsible for all research, recruitment, interviews/tests, faciltiation, strategic planning, and drafting of the plan. PH1’s team brought wide experience in the tourism industry and applying CX at scale, that enabled us to deliver quickly.

Evaluating the current customer experience through data

Analyze to identify pain points and opportunities to improve the customer experience
Define who the core audiences are and their usage patterns

Assessing how best-in-class transportation operator elevate their CX

Identify trends transforming how the customer experience is being delivered
Identify novel initiatives, approaches, and KPIs

Conducting an in-person audit of the network to identify areas for improvement

Audit the consistency of the customer experience across regions and categories
Determine what friction and procedures are negatively impacting the CX

Mapping the passenger journey to enable teams to understand the many impacting factors

Outline the passenger's expectations at each step of the omnichannel experience
Pin-point commonalities, deficiencies, and opportunities across the CX

Interviewing passengers to prioritize pain points and explore expectations

Gain context on customer needs, expectations, motivations
Prioritize pain points and opportunities for improvement

Facilitating executive and planning committee workshops to define the vision and strategy

Build alignment on what the CX vision and core strategy should be
Develop a framework for how the CX Master Plan must be drafted to deliver the most impact

Leading a consultation process with employees to gain buy-in and additional perspective on the employee experience

Evaluate the customer experience from the perspectrive of employees, including blockers
Get buy-in from key roles on the core directives and planned improvements

Delivering a customer experience master plan that elevates the entire organization

Iteratively and collaboratively draft the corporate vision, strategy, directives, areas for improvement, roadmap, and measurement framework
Get buy-in from all key stakeholder groups across the org

Delivered a customer experience master plan that received buy-in from executives, planning committees, and employees
Launched an initiative to better engage employees in planning processes
Identified opportunities to streamline communications to eliminate pain points
Delivered recommendations for the digital transformation of the organisation

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