On a trip to Florence, a girl fell in love with Italian “gelato”. It was a recurring request from her to her parents. One day, the manager of the hotel where they were staying decided to call the special ice cream truck that passed across the street and came back smiling with a “gelato” in hand, just to delight that little guest. The hotel’s service was already great and definitely won a place in the parents’ memory when they saw the sparkle in their daughter’s eyes.
At her desk, wherever she is located, the business manager needs to assume that it is her responsibility to write stories like this. The plot needs to be full of emotion, surprise and truth.
For this to happen, the starting point is surely a homework: understand the market, design products and know the public. All this investment and use of data leads the company to “knock on the door” of the customer. To be invited in and become a frequent presence depends on the effectiveness of the entire strategy and especially what happens after this client has already taken the first step.
It is at this point that the relationship between the public and the company begins to take on a topography of its own. It is a dynamic that is perceived between peaks and valleys. A good strategy seeks to raise satisfaction levels to the highest points and avoid valleys – those frictions that damage the relationship.
In many cases, positive plateaus can be built. That is, stable high levels of satisfaction. This stability is achieved after building structured processes across all customer touchpoints. Even so, there need to be unexpected moments of peak situations, so that mutual admiration and that feeling of being very well taken care of is renewed.
A recent example is the attitude of the bank Société Générale, which sent a gift and a letter to its customers. In the letter, the bank highlighted that, although there had been many uncertainties due to the pandemic, it was also a year of opportunities. Parents were able to follow their children’s lives more closely, children took care of their parents and people were closer.
By showing empathy with the moment we are living, it knew how to be delicate and managed to convey a message of humility and gratitude: “This year, when everything was unpredictable, you were with us”. The financial institution recognized the role of the customer and caused a surprise.
This is what I call a peak moment – a genuine emotion of recognition and trust. It becomes possible to enchant and leave the customer with the feeling that he is not dealing with any ordinary company.
The manager’s plans also need to include continuous monitoring of the client, with actions that transform uncomfortable situations. It may be that someone forgets to notify the credit card company that they will be traveling. And then realizes this when goes to the cashier of a store abroad and have the card refused. The feeling of shame and discomfort will take over the person.
What to do now? If the company has the technology to build an alert and structured processes, it will contact him immediately to confirm that he is overseas shopping. Upon confirmation, the card will be allowed to process the operation. What was an extreme annoyance will turn into a feeling of security.
When climbing the mountain of emotions, the audience will feel virtuous and great moral value experiences. You can admire and trust the brand, have hope in people and even have courage to try something new in your own life. Then the magic happens…
Andreia Mariano
