…beyond mere customer satisfaction
It is a generally-accepted fact that businesses cannot bank their hopes on the mere satisfaction of their customers. Customers who have claimed to be satisfied with a business’ products or services have also been known not to hesitate to switch to the competition when the opportunity presents itself. A customer who claims he or she has no problem whatsoever with the business in question will be gone the next day, without any indication of any form of discontent with the business.
In an article on this page in the early months of 2014, I touched on the fact that customer satisfaction can operate at two levels. There are the rationally satisfied customers and there are the emotionally satisfied ones. The former group are known to behave and look just like rationally-dissatisfied customers. Those are the ones who will have no problem taking their business to the competition right after they declare their satisfaction with a business.
So if a business cannot place its trust in the satisfaction of its customers, what is it to do? If a customer being satisfied is not enough, what is? But all is not lost. Researchers claimed that there is another emotion that can really touch people in a very powerful way.
Individuals can get into this unique emotional state at different times and under different circumstances. As a matter of fact, a study published in the November 2014 of the Frontiers in Psychology journal alluded to the fact that both joy and sadness are key emotional ingredients in getting into this particular emotional state. The study, which was titled “Being Moved: Linguistic Representation and Conceptual Structure”, was undertaken by researchers in Germany.
It is said that watching one’s baby attempt to crawl can bring the one into that emotional state just as seeing someone in great pain can also cause the one to experience that emotional state. A movie can get us into that emotional state. The tears of a loved one can do same. The plight of a beggar on the street can really get us into the emotion.
The struggles of a single mother can also have the same effect. The Holy Bible talks about a time when the Lord Jesus Himself got into that state just by seeing the tears of the masses at the loss of Lazarus. Sometimes, one can experience that state just by witnessing a mind-blowing spectacle. A masterpiece of an artwork. A wonder of nature. A stunning beauty.
So what is this powerful emotional state that can so affect us? What is this emotion that even affected God Himself? What do we call it?
We simply call this emotional state “being moved”.
Yes. “Being moved”.
Two simple words but their ability to elicit an emotional response from those who experience it is far from simple. It is true that English language speakers use this term often to refer to a wide range of emotions. However, there is a specific emotional state that is described as “being moved”.
To “be moved” is an emotional state that each and every one of us has experienced at one time or another. An article, titled “What Evokes Being Moved?” published in the April 2020 edition of the Emotion Review journal, was of the view that people are moved when they apprehend the values of entities they feel a connection with. These entities we feel connected to can include people, certain objects, and even abstract ideas such as core values. This means that if you value bravery as a core value, you would be easily moved if you encounter someone exhibiting bravery in the face of personal danger. If you value equality, it would not be difficult to be moved when a politician delivers a powerful oratory on the subject at a political rally.
There are however certain values which have universal appeal and therefore a display of such values can move us. Scientists described such values as having ‘‘transcendental significance’’. It has been said that this is why people tend to be moved at weddings. Genuine love is one of such values that has ‘‘transcendental significance’’.
It is important to note that “being moved” is unlike any other emotion we experience. According to experts, what they have found is that this particular state is a totally distinct state, unlike any other. It is not an intensification of a particular emotion. It is not about being more disgusted or being more elated. It is a totally distinct emotion. This is according to a study published in July 2014 edition of the Philosophical Studies journal. Titled “Being Moved”, the study elaborated on how the emotion of “being moved” satisfies the “five most commonly used criteria in philosophy and psychology for thinking that some affective episode is a distinct emotion.” In other words, “being moved” stands on its own as an emotion.
One of the things about the emotion of being moved is that it causes a change in the attitude of those who are moved and this leads those moved to act in positive prosocial ways. In short, when people are moved, they act on the emotion and they act positively. One study found that when people were moved, they tended to contribute more to organisations that were involved in good causes such as UNICEF. This makes being moved a very important emotion, especially when it comes to the relationship between an organisation and its customers. Customers who are moved do a lot of good things for the organisation in question.
If “being moved” is of such importance, then how does a business go about causing its customers to experience such an emotional state? If it makes business sense for a business to move its customers, what are some ways by which that can be achieved. A study titled “Moved or Being Satisfied? The Effect of Unexpected Acts of Personal Kindness in Hospitality Service Encounters,” proposed an interesting way by which customers can be moved. Published in the July 2020 edition of the Cornell Hospitality Quarterly journal, the study proposed that businesses should go beyond merely meeting customer expectations. The way forward was for customer-facing professionals to perform “unexpected acts of personal kindness”.
Although the above-mentioned study was specific to the hospitality industry, it is not too difficult to see how the results can easily be generalised. Unexpected acts of kindness can move any customer regardless of the industry. It does not matter what the customer is paying for, if the one serving customer is able to do something particularly kind and unexpected, that customer is sure to be moved.
The underlying factor that makes unexpected acts of kindness such a powerful cause of being moved is the element of surprise. For an act to move an individual, it is important that the act stands out from what the individual experiences on a daily basis. That is why the act must necessarily be a surprise.
As expected, the customer who is moved will do something about that. When customers are moved, it will not be farfetched for the customer to want to do something in return for the organisation. It is this desire to reciprocate the good deeds of the organisation which makes the emotion of being moved such an important emotional state into which to get one’s customers.
According to the study, being moved significantly increases the loyalty and commitment of customers. This, the researchers say, leads to more positive word of mouth communication from these customers. Customers will go out of their way to tell others about that single act of unexpected kindness by a customer-handling professional. Also, being moved was found to improve the customer’s overall perception about the organisation.
There are several ways by which front line employees can show unexpected kindness to customers. If a customer is given service that is much more than he or she paid for, it will not be too difficult to see the customer being moved. An unexpected gift as the customer leaves could be the act of kindness that moves the customer. If the customer is overheard seeking assistance that is not in the purview of the service provider, but the customer service professional still goes out of his or her way to be of assistance to the customer, that act will move the customer. Sometimes, all the customer-facing employees has to do is to say the right thing to the customer. A kind word might be all that the customer needs to be moved.
The customer’s experience will continue to be the single most important determinant of the fortunes of any organisation. Organisations that are set to thrive even in the most competitive of markets are those organisations that invest in the quality of experience customers have. All the beneficial actions of customers, such as repeat business, increased purchase, positive word-of-mouth communications and recommendations, etc. will all be based on their experiences.
Interestingly, experience is based on emotions which is why a business cannot take the emotions of its customers for granted. If being moved by an act of the organisation will generate the kind of emotions that will go along to enhance the customer’s experience, then, by all means, a business should seek to do everything possible to always seek to move its customers. And if something as little as an act of unexpected kindness can move customer, then unexpected acts of kindness should actually be an official policy of the organisation.
