Mastering customer experience: A guide to enhancing emotional and logical connections

Recently I signed up to an online training course, and it sure did show me what can make or break the customer experience! I would log in, click to access the live workshop, but have to log in again. Once in, I couldn’t access the workshop, even though it was online right at that time. In the end, I quit. And since then, my friend did too. Two customers lost, at $750 per person per year. Given our experience, I’m pretty sure we weren’t alone here.

Contrast that with the prompt and personal service I received from Aotearoa Surf when I enquired about a wellness retreat. I emailed to see if I could join friends who had booked earlier, and within 20 minutes, I got a personalised reply with simple instructions for grouping us together at checkout. It was straightforward and made me feel seen and valued—exactly how customer service should be.

These experiences stick with us because they resonate on an emotional level—they make us feel seen and valued, or ignored, and frustrated. And it’s these feelings that can turn a casual customer into a loyal advocate or a disappointed critic.

Understanding the customer journey: emotional vs. logical needs

In the business world, we often focus on the operational side of things—processes, outcomes, KPIs—but forget that the customer journey is as much about emotion as it is about logic. It’s our job as leaders to design the customer experience journey and the processes that support that, however we need to make sure we are aware of the emotional needs throughout the journey too.

Joey Coleman, in his book Never Lose a Customer Again, sets out eight phases of the customer experience, and gives us a framework to define what customers are thinking and feeling at each stage.

• Assess: Your potential customer is sizing you up, deciding whether they want to do business with you.
• Admit: They admit they have a need and believe you can solve it, filled with hope and anticipation.
• Affirm: Now they’ve chosen you, they need affirmation they made the right choice, especially when doubt kicks in.
• Activate: The first real interaction with your business, and they’re both excited and a bit anxious.
• Acclimate: Ok, getting used to your way of doing things, which might feel a bit awkward or unfamiliar at first.
• Accomplish: Seeing the results they hoped for, and how they feel about it can vary widely based on what you deliver.
• Adopt: If all goes well, they’ll fully embrace your business, becoming loyal fans.
• Advocate: GOAL! They can’t stop telling everyone about how great you are, effectively becoming your brand ambassadors.

In our coaching workshops, we dive deep into these eight phases with leadership teams.

Starting with the logical journey, we discuss how each phase is currently managed and brainstorm how to make improvements. We also look at the emotional journey, and rate these too.

Leveraging service truths and strategic choices

While we can brainstorm everything under the sun, we know we can’t do it all. Remember Frances Frei’s Uncommon Service, she reminded us that “you can’t be good at everything”. We need to choose what we’ll focus on based on what aligns with our BHAG, our core purpose, and our values. We talked about this in our recent customer experience blog. 

Take Southwest Airlines, for instance. They opted for a no-frills, efficient service with rapid gate turnarounds. This strategic decision allowed them to offer low fares and frequent flights, becoming their competitive edge. When other airlines tried to compete on price alone, they missed the mark because they weren’t prepared to make sacrifices, such as reducing in-flight services, to excel at pricing.

Southwest’s customer experience is deeply integrated with their BHAG, purpose, and values—embodying a no-frills policy to keep operational costs low while focusing on high-quality service and punctual performance. Their service model, which ensures quick check-ins and faster boarding processes, significantly enhances overall customer satisfaction.

Once we know what we’re going to focus on doing well (and being bad at), we then establish clear KPIs to gauge our success from the customer’s viewpoint and delegate responsibilities for implementing these improvements.

Engaging customers to refine the experience

Consider the tale of Kodak, who famously missed the shift to digital photography despite inventing the first digital camera. Like Blockbuster, which also failed to adapt to digital streaming, Kodak’s reluctance to embrace digital technology led to its decline. This highlights the critical importance of tuning into customers’ needs and industry trends. Customers expressed a growing preference for digital media, yet these companies clung to outdated models.

It underscores how crucial it is to actively manage and utilise customer feedback. As Frei suggests, customers are often an underutilised resource in shaping the service experience. Managed well, they can help craft the experience they desire.

For instance, Xero, excels in training its customers without direct phone contact. They provide extensive online resources, including FAQs, tutorial videos, and community forums, which empower users to find solutions independently and efficiently. This approach not only educates customers but also builds their confidence in using the product, enhancing their overall experience and satisfaction.

Collecting vital feedback for continuous improvement

There is vital data that we require to design and refine our customer journey. The best way to understand someone’s emotional journey is to engage with them and ask.

From good old verbal feedback through to quantitative data, it is crucial that we have regular conversations with our customers to gain feedback. When was the last time someone from your management team spoke with a key customer?

Back in the day, IBM had its top 200 managers talk to five customers and employees every week, and provide their feedback every Friday. This simple yet effective method allowed them to collect live market data weekly and share it with the business leaders.

Why don’t we do it? Often, it is the fear of what a customer may say that stops us from asking, which in turn prevents us from growing and improving. Be courageous, ask the questions, take onboard the feedback, and evolve.  

Want to keep surveys simple? The Net Promoter Score (NPS) survey is one of the most simple, practical tools to use when it comes to surveys. It basically asks one question, and provides a benchmark that you can then repeat – regularly. Plus, as it is used worldwide there is now international benchmarks for you to measure yourself against.  

 

Proactively designing outstanding customer experiences

Understanding and optimising the eight phases of the customer journey is where real transformation happens. It’s not just about reacting to customer service issues as they arise; it’s about proactively designing an outstanding customer experience that resonates with what your customers need and expect from you.

Wanting to optimise your customer experience? Chat to one of our Business Growth Consultants at Two Tides to find out how you can.