ENGAGED CUSTOMERS

This past week, two articles in the Wall Street Journal caught my eye.  One article highlighted the NBA’s new emphasis on enhancing the season ticket holders' customer experience with special promotions and public recognition. The other article analyzed Wal-Mart’s recent decision to sweeten their bonus program for hourly and long-term employees.  It appears that employee morale has been slipping lately at Wal-Mart, and the hourly bonus program is going to motivate more smiles and better customer service.                                                    

These two articles may appear to be unrelated, but actually, are addressing the same issue.  How do you “engage” customers so that they will be more loyal and spend more money? How do you “engage” employees so that they will stay with your company longer and provide better customer service?                                                    

You have got to get them engaged!  But how?  

I have found that “engagement” exists on two levels, and both levels must be addressed in order to drive loyalty and retention with your employees and customers.      

The first level of engagement is the largely “rational.”  At this level, we are addressing our basic needs and wants.  For example, you have a job which I have the capacity of doing.  You, as the employer, provide the necessary training, supplies, and equipment for me to do the job.  You pay me what I agree to as a fair and just wage. We have a deal! I am engaged on a rational level (for the moment).                                                    

For a customer, it is a similar story.  I am hungry. You serve food at a location that is convenient to me.  You serve food that I like or are willing to try. The price of the food is reasonable.  I have money for the food. We have a deal! The customer is engaged on a rational level (for the moment).                                                    

But then something must happen in order for the employee to stay with the company or the customer to come back and refer family and friends.  The job for the employee or product/service for the customer must move beyond the mere ordinary into something that is special, unique or possibly extraordinary.                                                      

What causes some jobs to become “dream jobs?”  What causes some products/services to become “cult-like” in their appeal?”  It’s not necessarily connected to how much the job pays or even how much the product/service costs.  It needs to touch something inside. It must appeal to the second level of engagement – the emotional.    

The rational level brings you in the door: I have a job, you need a job; I have a product/service, you need that product/service. The emotional gets you to stay and move beyond the job or product at hand.  You move beyond merely being satisfied to being loyal and then becoming an advocate of your employer or product/service.                                                    

The top companies in the world appear to understand the two levels of engagement quite well. When you have a moment, look up Business Week’s recent top 25 Customer Champions List. Read the reasons why the companies were selected, and you will find both levels of engagement largely in force.                                                    

Now for some words of warning for those seeking enhanced levels of engagement with their employees and customers:                                                   

* More and more of the “emotional” level of engagement is moving to the rational level. What was new and exciting yesterday is now expected – by your employees; by your customers.      

* The “emotional” level is highly dependent on a focused and motivated leadership team.  Relationships are the key to success, but they take time and money in order to pay off. Little things mean a great deal.  Don’t cast aside the trivial.                                                     

* The “emotional” level is difficult to “standardized” and “measure” – two important hallmarks of major brands, but also the Achilles Heal of growth and “cult-like” status.            

* Don’t take your eye off the basics (i.e., the rational) in search of the “emotional.”  It may be more attractive and more fun to focus on the emotional level, but if you fail to deliver the basics in lieu of your fancy new service/programs or bonus program based on more smiles, all your efforts will be in vain.                                                     

* True engagement is not easy.  It takes time, creativity and reliance on “soft” measures.  You must believe. You must take risks. You must be willing to fail in order to succeed.     

The rational and emotional levels of engagement -- the one-two punch of a fulfilling employment experience, and a “story worth telling” customer experience.  

Until Next Friday,