Olof Schybergson, the CEO of service design company Fjord, posted a fascinating article on FastCoDesign discussing the three stages of love and how they can help you improve your service. According to him, a person’s relationship with a service is comparable to one’s relationship with another person. It begins, it evolves, and then it either ends or lasts for a very long time. And what spells between a short-lived love affair and an epic love story?
A truly deep personal connection, one that anticipates and understands what a person needs by paying attention to what they like, what they don’t like, and what they value, makes love long-lasting. This means offering somebody something that’s open to change and improvement. This also means calibrating the way you interact with the person depending on the stage of your relationship.
Be too aggressive at the beginning, and people will get turned off. Fail to give incentives midway through, and people will get bored.
It works for human beings, and it works for the products and services we subscribe to. That’s why you, as a businessman, should keep in mind these relationship stages, and what they entail:
The First Impression
They say that first impressions last, and it really is true. When a person meets you for the first time, you either pique their interest or you don’t. If you do, then it could be the beginning of a long-lasting association. If you don’t, then it’s over before it even began.
When you create a product or service for people, you need to make sure that you have something that will get their attention and intrigue them enough to want to know more. One great way to do this is to have a very unique selling proposition that many would find appealing. Take VoIP services for example – there are tons of them out there. But more people are paying attention to RingCentral right now because they offer small businesses all the professional phone system features they need PLUS a convenient touch platform.
Getting to Know Each Other
Getting to know each other, otherwise known as “dating” is the point in a relationship where people try to figure out how compatible they really are. After all, attraction can only take you so far. You need to find points of connection and strengthen the initial engagement. You need to show values beyond the initial appeal.
In the case of businesses, this period is the trial period. Potential buyers either subscribe to a service temporarily or try out a product to see how it works, so you need to make the experience of your offerings as enjoyable and convenient as possible. One of the best ways to go about this is to apply game elements to your system or product. For example, CRM platform SalesForce allows its users within an organization to compete for the top spot on a leader board showing performance improvement using the platform. This detail appeals to the competitive agents using it.
Commitment
Once attraction and long-term engagement has been confirmed and established, people are willing to commit to another person in the long run. They promise loyalty, with the expectation of reciprocation.
Despite what many businessmen think, this is not the end. This is the beginning. At this point, you have to prove that you are worthy of a customer’s commitment by offering a consistently high quality of product, service, and engagement. The Harley-Davidson motorcycle company, for example, has inspired customer loyalty through quality products and excellent branding that allows people to identify with them.
To make customers fall in love with your business, in other words, you need to always be the right company for them.
12 Comments
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Alec Farell
May 19, 2012 at 1:58 pm
I never saw the relationship between my business and my clients from this point of view, but if you read those three steps of relationship, I guess I have to give you credit. This is a new approach and I am so glad that now I could see the things this way.
Stephen
May 21, 2012 at 8:12 am
It’s true, first impression is the last impression and it has to be maintained in blogging. It’s very important for bloggers to develop loyal reader this will increase their timeline on internet. The three things you have mention will be very useful in making readers love your blogs. A very informative post for bloggers.
Thomas
May 21, 2012 at 8:31 am
Very interesting article indeed. Its a unique way to connect with our customers. I do believe making a good first impression helps in getting the work done. Commitment and loyalty are cornerstone of a good relation. One can expect to retain a lot of client by being true to them. To be successful in anything one has to have an idea what the client needs and work accordingly.
TracyAnn0312
May 21, 2012 at 12:23 pm
Most costumers find interest on the product you have to offer. Also they want to secure their costumer to have better product results. Falling in love with you and your blog doesn’t need too much effort but if you have the chance in making them satisfy, then you should make topics that can interest them. Thanks for sharing another informational article in your blog.
reeha
May 21, 2012 at 2:13 pm
Commitment is the issue these days. we mostly fails to fulfil our commitments and thinks that i will done it after a day or two which makes a bad impact on your clients or whatever you say. so keeping your commitment tight and fulfil them with in time or even before time. money does not matter if you thinks in long run however relationship worth a lot more than money if you are a wiser businessman.
Kate
May 22, 2012 at 8:34 am
It is a unique way to connect with our customers. I do believe making a good first impression helps in getting the work done. One can expect to retain a lot of client by being true to them, The three things you have mention will be very useful in making readers love your blogs, thanks for sharing this blog.
Melissa
May 24, 2012 at 7:03 pm
It’s very important to have good relationships with your readers or clients, and this can be achieved by answering all their questions, by some reaction on their comments and so on
David
June 4, 2012 at 9:03 am
To succeed in any business it is important for the businessman to know what his customers wants. You cannot try to sell something that the buyer doesn’t want. So familiarizing oneself with the customers and their needs is very essential. Making a good impression will help you go a long away. To keep your customer coming back to you one must try keeping the commitment they make.
James
June 5, 2012 at 11:33 am
The best way to make the client to trust you is by living up to your commitment. It is very easy to impress someone by saying a few good things but what is hard is maintaining that impression. If a customer can trust you then he will keep coming back to you and not only that he will also recommend your services to others.
Emily
June 7, 2012 at 1:32 pm
These are very good tips. They are simple to understand and easy to apply. If one can manage to follow all the rules that are stated here then they can be assured of achieving success in their business. The customers want to be treated with honesty and respect. If your are able to get the customers to trust you then you don’t have to worry about a single thing.
Paul
June 11, 2012 at 1:16 pm
These tips are very helpful and apt. People need to make their customers trust them and that is possible only if they have a appropriate reason to believe them. Building trust is a huge process. The initial step is to make a good first impression. After that it is important to get to know the customers as that increases the bond between them.
Thomas
June 15, 2012 at 5:05 am
These are the most basic tips or rules that one has to keep in mind while trying to make the customers like you and your work. If the customers don’t believe you then there are very less chances that they will want your service. You not only want the customers to approach you but also that they retain your services for the next time. So you must really work on these tips.