Creating Customer Value in Challenging Times

By Tony Bodoh, Lead Strategist, The Congruity Group

When customers are feeling overwhelmed, there is a tremendous opportunity to create value. Overwhelm causes people to feel stuck, frustrated, and angry. The most creative people in good times can feel lost and confused when conditions pivot and danger or threats appear around the bend in the road. 

These are the perfect times to create tremendous customer value.

One of the fundamental principles to understand about human experiences and, by extension, customer experiences is that every one of our senses is tuned for relative differences. Your eyes see relative differences in shades and shadows. Your ears detect relative differences in tone and frequency. Your skin detects relative differences in heat, pressure, and texture. 

Humans also detect relative differences in our emotional states. We feel happier one day than the next. We feel clearer about something now, when just a few minutes ago we felt confused. We feel hungry as lunch approaches and tired as dusk settles in. 

Knowing that your customers can detect these relative differences may seem obvious. However, when you consider that most people are in a heightened state of worry, anxiety, or overwhelm compared to where they were just a month or two ago, it can give us clues to the path forward in our marketing and sales campaigns. 

First, you can evaluate how your customers are currently feeling and how they would rather feel. This is your GPS that will guide you through the experience design of your marketing campaigns or sales calls. Now that you have awareness of the start and the end points of the journey, you can monitor the progress of your customers’ emotions as they move through the journey.

Second, you can identify where your customers are reaching a tipping point of overwhelm, anxiety, or worry. In these moments, you can identify the types of content and conversations that can help your customer step back from the perspective that they are facing a difficult challenge and you can focus them on a smaller, easier step to take in the moment. Watch the TMSA Webinar entitled, “Customer Engagement in Challenging Times and Beyond” to get a detailed understanding of what creates overwhelm.

Third, you can create the content or conversation points to help your customers see what is possible and then to take action. We know from our research that B2B customers often consume up to seven pieces of content on a topic before reaching out to a salesperson. The customer wants to feel informed, educated, competent, and confident. The key to this step is to identify the smallest steps possible for the customer to take to move forward, and to then give them the guidance and encouragement so they are willing to take those steps. 

As Betsy shared in the webinar, there are a number of tactics you can use to connect with your customer. Video messages, video calls, or webinars are really valuable today because customers are craving human connection during this period of social distancing. This extra touch creates value. Step-by-step guides give customers a feeling of forward movement and skill development, which also creates value. Finally, having a one-on-one conversation over the phone or in email, that starts with understanding the personal and professional challenges that your customers are facing and ends with you helping solve those challenges, which often means going beyond the scope of your solution, creates tremendous trust and value for your customers.  

Use this challenging time wisely to build and deepen your customer relationships. Do that by helping your customer move from their unpleasant emotional state to a pleasant emotional state. Be in service to them and help them master new skills so they can move forward.

Tony Bodoh is the Lead Strategist for The Congruity Group. His focus is on applying the science of human experience to deepen the customer relationships that build brands and grow businesses. In 2018, Tony was named one of the Top Customer Service Movers and Shakers you should follow. Tony is a speaker, podcaster, and co-author of three #1 Best Selling books.