Bureau West

I’ve recently been involved in several research studies in which participants provided both in-the-moment input (e.g., using a mobile app) and retrospective input (in a focus group or interview).  Looking at the differences between what people experience and what they remember can be extremely valuable, and is a great example of the peak-end rule in behavioral economics.

The peak-end rule states that people don’t remember all parts of an experience equally.  Rather, their strongest memories are of two parts of the experience: the most intense moment and the end of the experience.  I saw this in my recent research studies: people who had a high point or a great interaction during their experience tended to remember the whole experience as positive and minimized the negatives they experienced.  And the reverse was also true: people who experienced a significant negative tended to forget about the small positives they experienced.

This has important implications for companies.  It may not be enough to just try to ensure everything goes smoothly in a customer interaction: there’s always a chance that not everything will be perfect.  But small negatives can be outweighed by a great interaction.  For example, a long wait online may be forgotten if the cashier is particularly pleasant.

We can find those opportunities to create great memories by comparing what customers experience with what they remember.  Then we examine the positive memories and look for ways to create more memories like them.

Let’s design research to compare your customers’ experiences with their memories.  Call me at 760-469-9266 or email info at bureauwest.com.

 

Sources: Bureau West research; “Choices, Values, and Frames” by Daniel Kahneman  and Amos Tversky, 2000

Over the years I’ve been conducting focus groups, I’ve been struck by how customers personify companies they do business with.  Those of us who have been behind the scenes may realize that most companies are simply made up of people trying not to get fired (or perhaps even get a promotion!), but customers attribute human-like motives to companies.

But for some reason, many companies shy away from showing any kind of personality.  The default corporate personality is “neutral.”  Perhaps that feels safe, but if a company doesn’t stake out a personality, customers will attribute personality characteristics to the company anyway… and they could be negative.  We want customers to feel the company is “on their side” rather than “out to get them!”

Here’s an example of a company that’s not afraid to show personality: I recently ordered a product from Native Deodorant, and received the following shipping notification:

Your bar of Native Deodorant was gently pulled by our team of experts and placed on a gold-trimmed pillow stuffed with the finest fibers known to man. Then, a team of six inspectors examined your deodorant under a magnifying glass, ensuring it was in perfect condition.

Once the inspection was complete, our veteran polisher (he was previously employed at the Tower of London, where he was responsible for polishing the Queen’s jewels) polished it as a quiet hush fell over the warehouse. “This package is getting shipped to Jay,” he whispered. “Take good care of it.”

Conveying personality isn’t necessarily an expensive endeavor, but it requires a decision from management and follow-through to make sure the personality is conveyed in all customers’ interactions with the brand.  In recent years, airlines have been showing safety videos with personality, but unfortunately, that personality usually does not extend to other areas of the customer experience (with some exceptions, such as Virgin and Southwest).

While cute or irreverent examples of brand personality may be most memorable, that may not be appropriate for all companies.  Nor is it necessary.  An example of brand personality that sticks in my mind: when completing a joint tax return using TurboTax (by Intuit), the interview asks if either of the spouses has died in the past year.  If you answer “yes,” the software says “We’re really sorry to hear that. Our condolences.”  That gesture didn’t cost the company anything, but really touched many of their customers.  Clearly, Intuit has focused on incorporating the brand personality into the customer experience.

Let’s discuss how brand personality can help your company.  Call me at 760-469-9266 or email info at bureauwest.com.

 

Clients don’t want data, they want solutions to their business challenges.  That point has come up repeatedly in interviews I’ve conducted with research buyers, and was mentioned again last week by a research buyer who attended my presentation in Vancouver, “How Market Research Can Take Back Customer Experience.”

In the discussion that followed the presentation, we talked about the fact that the information that can lead to answers can come from different areas in a company: website analytics from the website team, the sales people interacting with prospects and customers, data from the customer experience team and qualitative and quantitative research from the market research department, to name a few.

But those of us in the market research function (or “customer insights” or “voice of the customer”) are in the best position to take the data from all those sources and figure out how to use them most effectively.  Unfortunately, we can easily slip into the habit of just reporting the results, as in “that’s what people said,” and leave it at that.  I mean, isn’t that our job?

Maybe it used to be, but to be truly valuable to our clients (or internal clients) we have to go beyond just reporting results.  But here’s the catch: at the beginning of the project, clients frequently are focused on the logistics of collecting information; it’s only at the end that they say “OK, now what do we do with all this information?”

Here’s what we can do to make sure that both we and our clients don’t forget to focus on how the company will benefit from the information we collect:

• When starting the project, remember to ask how the resulting information will be used.
• Based on that answer, consider whether the research approach should be revised. For example, your client might be asking for focus groups and a survey, but perhaps interviews with sales people should be added.
• Ask which stakeholders and departments are involved. Do they already have relevant information?  In the research proposal, consider ways to involve those other stakeholders during the project or even before it starts.
• At the end of the project, propose a workshop with your clients and other stakeholders to figure out the best way to utilize the findings.

Of course, clients won’t always take this kind of advice.  They might say “no, we just want focus groups and a survey.”  But they’ll think more highly of you and you will have planted the seed of those ideas in their minds… and perhaps it will happen on the next project!

Let’s discuss how to best find answers to your business challenges.  Call me at 760-469-9266 or email info at bureauwest.com.