Have you read about the five love languages? Dr Gary Chapman says that these are the languages that define how we want to feel loved and appreciated as individuals. Because personalities differ, the ways in which we resonate with the love languages used by loved ones, also differ.
For those readers who are curious, the five languages are Words of Affirmation, Acts of Service, Receiving Gifts (seeing yourselves anywhere as yet?), Quality Time and Physical Touch.
So, I believe that while these languages reside in the personal relationships domain, there are love languages that reside in the customer domain as well.
My picks for the five customer languages are Engagement, Accessibility, Simplicity, Options and Results.
Today, I’m just focussing on Engagement and the other four will be highlighted in successive columns. Engagement is about really connecting with customers in a unique and personal way.
When a business engages its customers, it begins to cut a path to personalising and customising the experience in a way that best suits the customer. For example, if you are in the life insurance business, it is helpful to develop programs that engage customers around health and well-being.
How about hosting seminars with health practitioners that educate customers on their medical risk assessment and genetic predispositions, whilst suggesting mitigating practices that can help them to counteract their vulnerability? T
he big winners here are good health on the customer side and risk mitigation on the business side.
If you are in the restaurant business, building a diner-profile database, especially for the regulars and logging their food preferences, allergies and even foodie adventures, is priceless. Your business can now begin to design special experiences that engage and resonate with your diners.
Also, why not cater to vegans and diabetics who have difficulty in finding food choices that meet their needs and address their gastronomic constraints? I can guarantee that this offering will be a winner.
So now you’re thinking that customer engagement sounds like quite a bit of work and yes, you would be right. It is a lot of work, if you haven’t been doing it all along. For those businesses that understand the value of customer data and the solid benefits of using customer analytics to drive decisions, the concern is not about time consumption, but about extraction of data that can be used to improve the user experience.
The process of engagement starts with “customer discovery” activities that build datasets of rich information.
This means truly beginning to understand your customers by discovering details about their hobbies, the foods they prefer, their charity work, their aspirations as citizens, their family activities, as well as when and how they make purchases.
In this way, a business can build a unique profile of each customer and tailor offerings in ways that make customers say, “I really love how this business has taken the time to design products and services that matter to me, in ways that matter to me.” This is customer gold that can be converted into revenue gold.
Now, some persons may think that collecting all of these “somewhat intimate” details is a little invasive.
My response is, not if the information is collected over time, as trust builds between your business and your customer. It is not an interrogative exercise where the customer is confronted and feels bullied by an employee who’s running through a list of questionable questions. No, it’s not so sterile.
Over time, as customers become more “engaged” they tend to be willing to reveal more and more about their likes, lives, preferences and personal details.
The best way to start the engagement would be at the point of “on-boarding” a customer, when he or she conducts the first transaction with your business. Time should be taken to make this a unique and memorable experience, so that the customer feels at ease.
Recently I had a really great on-boarding experience at the new passport office. Officer AS ensured that I was comfortable and explained the process in a calm, pleasant manner. Similarly, a welcome note or package, a courtesy discount, welcome gift or special repurchase offer can also work wonders as an engaging and welcome surprise.
Just think of it. A first time diner at a restaurant is asked about his or her food and wine preferences, allergies, typical dessert choices and preferred salt level in the food. This information is stored in a database so that whenever this customer visits, wait staff are able to speak conversationally about food preferences and “individualize” the experience. I like to think of this first sale as a first date with the customer. So just like on a first date, (the ones that go well), the customer should have such a memorable experience, that he or she would want to get to know your business better.
Keeping your customer happy then becomes your number one priority, whilst demonstrating just how engaging your brand personality can be.
So as you begin your customer engagement journey, remember to never let a first-time customer leave after a first transaction, without something of value that will make him or her want to return as soon as possible.