Can you remember ever losing your excitement about watching a new DVD as you endured the torture of trying to peel off the cellophane and pry-open the case? How about feeling frustrated as you, armed with knife, scissors, pliers and screwdriver, try to free a child”™s toy from its impenetrable clear plastic encasement?
Customers have positive, negative and neutral experiences and invest considerable time, effort, thought and emotion researching, selecting and purchasing their selection. In exchange for their sacrifices, they expect rewards. By learning to identify the negative or neutral ”“ and correcting them ”“ you will increase profitability and customer retention.
Dan Hill, author of “Emotionomics, Leveraging Emotions for Business Success,” says, “Most companies base their business strategies on the assumption that customers make ”˜rational”™ decisions about brands, products and services. But breakthroughs in brain science have revealed that people”™s decisions are primarily driven by emotions … and most companies do not know how to connect emotionally with their customers.”
A customer”™s total experience with your product or service, some positive, some negative and others neutral may invoke a wide variety of emotions. An example that strikes close to home occurred when my wife recently decided to spend a relaxing day at an exclusive spa. Her experience in making the appointment was negative as she tried to negotiate the vast number of phone menu options.
“For a facial, press one, massage two, pedicure three…” it went on and on but didn”™t include an option for what she wanted, the full-day package that included healthy juices, herbal saunas and a delicious organic lunch. She was finally able to make an appointment, but to enjoy a full day of services she had to pick a day that was inconvenient.
Arriving early, she found a line so long that it took over 10 minutes just to check in. She then had a series of neutral experiences as she received a nice but very ordinary haircut, facial, pedicure, massage, sauna and body wrap. However, to their credit, she did experience very positive emotions as she enjoyed pleasant conversations with each and every staff member. At the end of the day she was totally relaxed and feeling great.
Her serene, placid and tranquil state was shattered as she went to the end of another long line to check out. This roller coaster of positive, negative and neutral events, of rewards and sacrifices, is typical of the purchase and delivery of many products and services. What is the total customer experience like when dealing with you?
Rewards, such as convenience, always generate positive emotions. Sacrifice creates negative emotional experiences and always decrease value. They require unnecessary effort on the part of the customer. When we get what we expect, it is a neutral emotional event and although acceptable, won”™t lead to word-of-mouth referrals. Generate positive emotions and produce more rewards by becoming totally engaged with the customer”™s experience.
“Unusually Excellent” by Jon Hamm, reminds us of a few important business truths. “Engagement is about being interesting, but more importantly, it is about being interested in people. When someone is described as engaging, it means he or she is a great listener who knows how to take a sincere interest in other people.”
How can you do an even better job in engaging and rewarding your customer? By learning to identify negative and neutral customer emotions and correcting them, you will increase profitability and customer retention.
Questions for discussion:
Ӣ What negative or neutral experiences are incurred as people do business with us?
Ӣ How can we convert those experiences and enjoy free word of mouth advertising?
Joe Murtagh, The DreamSpeaker, is an international motivational speaker, meeting facilitator and business trainer. For questions or comments: Joe@TheDreamSpeaker.com, TheDreamSpeaker.com or (800) 239-0058.
