In your CX journey, have you given much thought to the customer lifecycle?
When does it actually begin?
Do you think the relationship between customer and company begins when a customer makes a purchase?
This is an important consideration. You must understand when that relationship between customer and company begins.
Let’s consider the popular 1958 McGraw-Hill ad, “Man in the Chair.” The ad depicts a grumpy-looking man (“your customer”), hands clasped, scowl on face, sitting in a chair. With that look, he might as well be pointing and shaking his finger at you while uttering the words that surround him:
- I don’t know who you are.
- I don’t know your company.
- I don’t know your company’s product.
- I don’t know what your company stands for.
- I don’t know your company’s customers.
- I don’t know your company’s record.
- I don’t know your company’s reputation.
- Now…What was it that you wanted to sell me?
If you take a look at the customer experience lifecycle that I depicted in a previous post, you’ll see that the lifecycle begins when the Need arises. That Need begets Awareness (sometimes it comes after Awareness). If you’re communicating, if you’re getting the word out (through messaging and through actions) about who your company is, what your products do, how your services differ, what value you bring, what needs you meet or problems you solve, and, most importantly, what you stand for, your customers will never recite the words from the Man in the Chair.
Love this post, Annette! It makes the case for companies doing things because they align with their values and beliefs (their brand) — instead of doing them simply to sell things. — denise lee yohn
Thanks, Denise! Absolutely. If only that was happening consistently.
Annette 🙂
Hi Annette. Hope you are well. Going to throw a curve-ball in with this one, but would you agree that maybe the journey starts even sooner than that? A lot sooner in fact. If we can agree that customer experience isn't just about perception, it's about expectation too (Perception-Expectation Gap modelling being a well-known part of CX Journey mapping); then a customer's experience of your business is likely to be conditioned by their expectation of your business, which starts even before they contact you OR have a need. Their expectation starts the first time they hear about your business, be that via the brand or word-of-mouth.
I have never owned an Apple product or used an Apple service; however I have already had a lot of experiences with that organisation. I already have an expectation as to what it would be like to do business with that company.
What do you think?
Ian Williams
@CustExpMan
Hi Ian. I hope you are well, too! I like curve balls; they keep me on my toes! And you are absolutely right. As I noted in my Customer Experience Lifecycle post, "Need often begets the rest of the cycle. (I say "often" because sometimes Need happens after Awareness.)" So, as you say, the expectation can begin as early as the first time you hear about the brand, whether there is a need or not. Thanks for calling me out on that and keeping me straight!
Annette 🙂