Is 'Customer Satisfaction' passé? 
As Customers become more discerning, Service aims are evolving 

Today, we customers are smarter: not only are we much clearer on exactly what we want, but we instinctively respond to what your actual feelings and attitudes towards us really are (you can't hide them!)

First, we now expect what was traditionally thought of as 'good' Customer Service:

• deliver on you promises
• get it right first time
• recover from problems perfectly
• and be courteous and polite

There was a time when you could stand out from the crowd by simply offering even some of these basics. But nowadays, of course, these have become 'hygiene factors' that just keep you on the playing field.

As Customers, we now just expect this from ALL our suppliers - it's basic, isn't it? And, unless your competitors are still giving last-century service, you simply cannot rely anymore on 'doing a good job' to differentiate yourself: of course, we won't stand for it when you get it wrong; but just because it's 'right' doesn't mean we're going to stay.

That's why the Harvard Business Review, way back in 1995, reported that:

• Satisfied Customers can be just as likely to defect as Dissatisfied ones 
  "Defectors’ ranks include those who are more than dissatisfied, quite dissatisfied, and neutral. The merely satisfied—many more than most managers realize—defect, too"
  Why Stratified Customer Defect (Harvard Business Review • Nov – Dec 1995) can be downloaded here

So, second, we're looking for more from you:

• We want to feel good about our interaction with you
• We want to know that you value us, that we are important to you, that you care about us, as people, and care about our lives, and our business when appropriate
• We want to know that you are going to be there for us when we need you, that we're more than just a transaction to get right for you, more than just a way for you to make money
• And yes, we're pleased when you do that little bit extra for us, go above and beyond, etc
• • but even this has to be done with sincerity - as a way of showing you care about us - otherwise it just falls flat too.

This might all sound rather fluffy, but we really do want to have a human relationship with you, as well as a business transaction. This turns out to be true with even the most hardened business people where you'd least expect the human element to be important. There's a simple reason for this: despite appearances and rumours to the contrary, they are human too!

" What became immensely apparent was that, yes, your "entry ticket to the park" was having your basics right..., but, if we were truly going to differentiate ourselves, then what our customers were saying (and what their behaviours were demonstrating in terms of whether they chose us, whether they stayed with us, whether they bought more from us) was actually what made the difference wasn't really the functional stuff, that was the given, what made the difference was whether they felt they'd had a good emotional experience with us as an organisation.  "
Darren Cornish, Director of Customer Experience at Norwich Union

We Customers really care about your attitude towards us!

If needing to create a good 'emotional experience' is not already clear and obvious, think about when you've had to call a company yourself, or have walked into their foyer or shop: ever get hot under the collar, simply by their attitude towards you - curt perhaps, or unfriendly, condescending, or simply uninterested?

When this happens, how do we feel? 

At best we feel resignation: "Well, what are you going to do?"

More likely, we'll switch suppliers at the first opportunity. And probably without telling them why (after all, it sounds pretty naff to say: "I didn't like the way you talked to me"!)

Conversely, you may well have had the occasional interaction with even a large call centre type business where you actually felt good about your transaction with them. If you've had that pleasure, think about what it was that pleased you:

• their warm, helpful attitude perhaps, 
• their personable, engaging style 
• or their obvious concern and commitment to make things right for you, as person.?

But now think about all those customer experiences you've had which neither make you feel Good nor Bad - just plain Neutral: no particular feelings either way. These are probably the vast majority of them. Notice how, even though they've probably got everything 'right', it leaves no lasting impression with you.

So, the aim is, of course, to get your Customers' experiences out of the Feel Bad zone, but also even beyond the Feel Neutral zone, and into the Feel Good zone - because that's where all the huge benefits kick in.

We KNOW when we feel great, even if we don't know why!

It may be hard to put our finger on exactly what it is about an interaction that makes us feel good, or even great, as a Customer, but, for sure, we know when it's happened.

And yes, we may well tell friends and colleagues about it, even recommending the company to them. And certainly we'll probably forgive them for those everyday little errors or mistakes that crop up in any business ... because we know they care about us.

And for sure (unless it's really an isolated one-off maverick member of staff) it hasn't happened by chance: the business will have spent a lot of time and effort to put someone who actually WANTS to do business with you and relate to you as a person on the end of the phone!

As I say, despite all this being pretty basic, it's strange that there's still no obvious and accepted name or industry term to refer to this ability to personally connect with Customers and make them feel good at a human level. Again, that's why I coined the term Customer Empathy in 1992, when I was the first to both recognise its importance and provide objective feelings-based research and services to help achieve it.

Getting what's measured

No doubt you're already taking Customer Satisfaction, and even 'Customer Delight' (let alone Customer Empathy) seriously, and you have measures and targets that encourage it.

But they may be working against you.

For example, are you checking if staff are saying the 'right' words and doing the 'right' thing (managing their 'behaviours), or are you assessing if they are being Caring (feels good), say, rather than simply Indifferent (feels neutral), or even  Uncaring (feels bad)?

Clearly, you tend to get what you measure, even when it's at the expense of what you actually want!  The very measures themselves may be self-defeating, in fact they often are.

For example, to be a bit simplistic, suppose you want your staff to be more 'Welcoming'. If you determine that Welcoming staff always 'smile', you may insist that they all smile at the customers, and then you may measure if they do or don't (by watching them, for instance). Well, if you force them to smile they surely will, but will that make us customers feel Welcomed? Probably not! Unless it's really sincere, a forced smile is more likely to turn us off, and we certainly won't feel Welcomed!

Yet, of course, the answer is easy: if you want your staff to be more Welcoming, just ask them to be more 'Welcoming' and stop telling them how to do it. Then just measure how Welcoming they come over, in their own way.  It may sound simple, but it can represent a HUGE shift of focus; that's why it's good to have some help, especially on how to objectively measure things like 'Welcoming'.

Getting feedback from your Customers

Generally Customers will be great at telling you what you've got right and wrong, and if they think that you've got it right, they will likely say they are Satisfied, or even Very Satisfied. But, as we have seen, that doesn't mean they are actually feeling good enough to be more loyal and do more business with you as a result.

If you ask them how they actually feel, they will find it hard to access their feelings in a clear and consistent way and give you accurate feedback.

Yet, since the biggest question actually is: "How do our customers feel about doing business with us, about interacting with us?" it's time to build these feelings-based metrics into your business.

Let's talk!