Consumer Expectation change during COVID and beyond #2: Too much noise

Customer expectation change #2 touches upon two important customer experience dimensions: Empathy and Trust. Empathy and trust have always been top of mind for customer experience (CX) professionals but during and after the pandemic became critical. It is vital to humanise each action and conversation to build relationships with every customer.

We have been talking about short attention spans for a few years and that as a business we should deliver more personalised, authentic and appealing messages. During COVID people have been bombarded with a huge amount of statistics and information that they are trying to understand and digest. Consumer focus has been shifted towards brands that can reassure them and maybe have fun in difficult times like this one. Many companies are currently experiencing a massive decline in revenue and this will be the case for the next few months, while it might make sense to invest time and resources trying to gain some of that revenue back it is definitely not the time to sell products and services. Your long-term investment right now shouldn’t be in advertising to push your products and services but actually investing in your trust and in your reputation which doesn’t come from traditional marketing activities.

In my previous article, I mentioned that Stéphane Garelli, Professor Emeritus of World Competitiveness at IMD and Professor at the University of Lausanne stated that this crisis is going to last 18 to 24 months. This means that not only businesses will be struggling but also consumers, who have lost loved ones, jobs and businesses are worried, stressed and anxious. You need to really figure out a way to add value to them in ways that will help you build a stronger relationship with them. A couple of weeks ago I came across a TED talk by women’s right activist Yifat Susskind who said a phrase that I love

“In uncertain times, think like a mother. When you think like a mother, you prioritize the needs of the many, not the whims of the few”.

I often talk about the power of strong customer trust as the cornerstone of all great relationships. It is what binds together what we do: our expectations, our relationships and actions. This is the time that allows you to build strong ties with your customers by becoming a partner in their lives. In research conducted by Eldeman during the COVID-19 pandemic it was found that 71% of customers say that if they perceive that a brand is putting profit over people, they will lose trust in that brand forever.

What does this mean for your customer experience?

• Are you anticipating the needs of your customers? Understand your customers’ mindset and take steps to meet their needs before they even express them to you. It doesn’t have to be products and services that they may have in mind but simply proactively anticipating any concerns. It might be about time to map out your customer journey and brainstorm what worries and questions your customers might have before they write to you or pick up the phone to reach out to you. Some common questions may be: Can I still buy from you? Will my delivery be delayed? A nice touch could be to send an email to your customer base with a few of the frequent questions and answers showing that you are proactively anticipating their needs.
• Reorient your customer-experience efforts to meet your customers’ primary needs, such as safety, security, and everyday convenience to add value to customer’s lives. This also means delivering on your promise. For example, if you are actively promising safety measures you are building on trust when safety is part of the customer experience. Your customers right now are asking a very simple question: “Can you keep me safe?”. During COVID and beyond safety and cleanliness is a huge part of your customers’ life and if they spot that you are not living up to your “safety” promise they will share their experience as a big warning for others.
• Say it with empathy and reassurance! This is critical in your customer experience at any time and at any point of your customer journey. Reassurance helps your customers relieve stress and anxiety and help them feel more confident in your brand. People’s main assets have been affected, their wealth and their health. Whether a customer is purchasing from you or just registering to one of the thousands of webinars out there, make sure you reassure them with the next step, they wouldn’t like to figure out what they need to do next. Many automatic emails are great as a technical and functional step but lack emotional depth.
• Run an end to end cx audit and adjust it accordingly to inject trust and empathy into your customer experience strategy. Actions like buy now and pay later, help communities or even be more transparent with your customers and let them know exactly what is happening in your business and most importantly communicate with them about their relationship with your brand. Sharing with them the challenges that you and your team are facing is appreciated by them and keeps them part of the process. Building trust with empathy and transparency is what eBay has been communicating in their response to COVID-19 page. 

More consumer expectation changes in the next article. If you missed my latest customer experience webinar: “Adapting Customer Experience in times of COVID and beyond” you can watch the replay by registering your interest here.