Customer experiences happen in the heart, not in the brain – so how do you evoke the right emotions?

The other day I came across an interesting blog about the importance of ’right customer experiences’. The starting point was that humans are fundamentally emotional beings driven by emotions. We like to believe that we are rational in our work, but our emotions actually always influence our decisions. Thinking, on the other hand, is a tool that strengthens or weakens our emotions.

The thought-provoking part of the post is that many companies are quite good at designing rational experiences, but completely lack a method for the emotional, unconscious experience.

Businesses that operate business-to-business have fantastic opportunities to create personal, positive customer experiences. In our work, we see time and again evidence of the real effects that experiences have on brands and businesses.

When we become emotionally engaged, we create the conditions to both absorb and remember messages better. It also opens the door to strong relationships – both between people and with a brand.

A model for designing the right experiences

Emotions can both strengthen and destroy values. London Business School has developed a model for designing the right emotions into the customer experience. It has four steps:

Step 1 – The layer at the bottom deals with value-destroying emotions. Learn which emotions create value and which ones destroy it.

Step 2 – This is the step when you try to capture the customer’s attention. It is in this segment that traditional advertising works. The emotions created here can be good for getting a first purchase, but they do not create long-term commitment.

Step 3 – The third step is interesting – once you’ve arrived here, you’ve managed to evoke such strong emotions that the customer is more than willing to recommend you. They feel safe and cared for, and you can start building loyalty.

Step 4 – Congratulations! If you get here, your customers will defend you in every situation. Here, you experience only two emotions: happiness and satisfaction.

One of the creators of the model suggests that you test your own strategy as follows:

We want a customer experience that makes people so happy that they want to take a picture of it to remember it later. If you don't believe that moment exists in your customers' experience of your company, then you have a bit of work to do.

Three proposals that improve the customer experience

The dream for all companies is of course to be at the very top of the model. But how do we make the customer feel secure, cared for, and seen?

A good customer experience, as mentioned, is about evoking the right emotions, which you can do by:

1. Invest in your staff. The most important foundation for your customers to feel well taken care of is, of course, the people who in one way or another influence the customer experience. Ensure that your staff is happy and that they understand your brand and can convey your company’s values in everything they do.

2. Do the unexpected. Think about it: how do you react when someone surprises you? Sure, it’s easy to feel emotions like love and gratitude when someone does something extra for you.

3. Give of your time. Spend more time talking with your customers. Listen to them. Meet them in person. Or take several steps at once and offer them a truly memorable brand experience!

In the long run, it’s about everything we do; what we say and how we say it, what we do and how we do it, what kind of impression we leave behind and how we are remembered.

If we succeed in evoking the right emotions, we create the conditions for successful collaborations in the long term.

The blog post really puts into perspective how much personal encounters and experiences can do when it comes to changing or strengthening attitudes. – what we at Brand Experience are dedicated to achieving every day is what we do.

How would you like to design your dream space? Do you want to vent your thoughts and ideas? Contact me, Then we’ll have lunch! 🙂

/Ola

Unlimited experiences create strong relationships.

PS. Blog post I found it on Billogram's website, if you want to read more.