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The nature of Customer buying motivation - The new norm for delivering the level of customer service quality.

Regardless of niche and market, you're in, competition is fierce. Every business is fighting for Your customer. Yes, that's right. They want Your customer. They want their repeat business, recommendations, referrals, feedback and testimonials.

Some businesses invest a great deal of time and money into improving and transforming their customer service delivery and staff development in order to win your customer over. It appears to be impractical and outcome outweighs the effort, but in reality, the formula is very simple and it works. Some, take their Customer service to another level while others don`t even take customer service norms very seriously.

A Superior example:

Take a look at the Cue company in Australia. They invest a great deal of time, effort and money in staying on top of the Customer Service quality.

( I have to place a disclaimer on my observational statement: I do not have any ties and or connections to Cue Company. This post or my work is not sponsored or paid for, by Cue or any of their subsidiaries. This is my view and my research based on publicly available information.) Since 1960`s Cue never feared the unknown. Never stayed behind the trend and kept their production on a rising level. Winning numerous awards for excellence in Fashion and service delivery, only made their success magnified. Keeping in trend is one thing but what is their secret? How come that Cue can deliver such brilliant results while others can`t?

Cue knows that the secret to winning any Customer over is by using a simple but very effective strategy. Keeping production on a local level is one thing and its good for the business. People talk, tell stories how a product is made, how much work goes into making such beautiful pieces. That is a great marketing strategy.

Knowing your customers is the key.

Who are they? What they need, want and desire? What are their expectations? They have that " One more thing!" or " But wait, there is more!" They know what will be good for each state, what people want based on their geo-social position and location. They know what goes and sells well in one state, more than likely will be a complete waste of time, money and effort in the other states.

They get out there and ask their customers. They talk to them. Gather the "Feed-for" and feedback. Why do people buy things? What are their motivations? What is it that makes their customers come back for more? They have developed customer service organisational culture and synced it across each and every business unit and their department store. It's like a reusable stencil: Re-use, Rince, Repeat - Once damaged repair, improve and Re-use, Rince and Repeat. That's only one part of their success secret. No wonder they keep winning all these awards year after year.

5 levels of buying motivation

Unfortunately, customer service quality is dropping below the norms of acceptance. Like any other unregulated entity, Customer Service quality is set by social norms and pretty much based on buying motivation. You can see, read, hear and watch presentations on how and why people buy. Most claim that people buy out of 2 reasons: Needs and Wants. From my research and in my opinion this is not a complete picture of buying motivation and the definitions are irrelevant.

Let`s figure out why most people buy!

1. "Existential Need" category".

The largest category, why do people buy, is because of our needs. We all need things that are crucial to our existence. Something we can`t live without. This has nothing to do with commercial/manufacturing needs or production needs. This is a group of products and services that we need to have to be able to live, survive and exist as a human being. Businesses operating in the "Need" category, supply products and services to all of us and they know we need their products and services.

2. "Want" buying category

Want is an item that is not really paramount to our existence but we want these items to live a more comfortable and enjoyable life. We can live without them but with them, our life is much more enjoyable and comfortable. We want Cars, transport, fuel, white goods, appliances, comfort, recreation, telecommunication, organic produce, healthy lifestyle, etc. Majority of us who can afford want`s, we buy them because we can afford it. If we can't afford them immediately, we work a little bit harder, save some money, buy them to live more comfortably. Competition in this category is wide, fierce and ever-changing.

The battle for customers in this category is ever-changing and suppliers will put more effort into attracting new customers and win Your customers over. Manufacturers and suppliers in the "wants" category have a hard task to satisfy customers expectations mainly because of the fact that customers are paying higher premiums for these products and services. They don't need them but the majority of people want them. Customer Service level in this category should be at the highest level achievable but in reality, it's a borderline below average. Here, a severe decline in the quality of Customer Service is highly notable. Primarily due to the acceptance of as-is - Take it or leave it or the theory "if one goes, the other one will fill the spot". Unlike in the Need category, where huge migration of customers occurs regularly and where forgiveness is granted only due to the fact that customers "need them", Customers in this category, have less forgiveness and tolerance for mistakes.

3. "Desire" category

Items, products and services in the "desire group", are not directly connected to our existence and do not affect the minimum norms of living standards. These items are more expensive than items in the "want group", and if we can't afford them immediately we have to work much harder for a little bit longer to afford it.

What do we Desire? We desire Luxury items, jewellery, homes, travel, overseas trips and anything that has to do with the highest standard of living.

Competition in the "desire group" is pretty much cutthroat. Most people work hard towards it and eventually manage to afford items from this group. The amount of money you spend is much larger than in the "want group". Manufacturers, suppliers and service providers know that we don't go there every day to buy items from this category, hence the reason they have to fight for every customer.

Offer something more, add value and deliver the service that you will talk about to your friends and family. If your service is not super impressive and on a superior level, customers will find a supplier, right there in your shop, with a couple of clicks on their phone.

You lack responsiveness, empathy, listening skills... You lost them forever! You have lost a potentially significant number of referrals, friends, family, followers and priceless walking talking marketing outlet.

4. "Because I can" category.

Simply: I buy because I can afford it!

Money is not an issue here. Products and services in "because I can" category are high-value items. Items that companies, businesses and wealthy individuals can afford at any given time. These items are not purchased on everyday occasion and they are used for business and pleasure. Purchases in this group are planned and mostly referred by friends and family. Items such as yacht, boat, heavy machinery, trucks, supercars, multi-million dollar homes, buildings, etc.

Competition in this category is pretty much "No person left behind!". Fight till the last breath and fight for every customer. Due to high-value items, suppliers and service providers in this category, invest a lot of time and a huge amount of money and effort in organisational structure and professional development.

They don't dress to impress, they dress for success. They have the mentality of " Don't be who you are - BE WHO YOU WANT TO BECOME!

They don't try to go above and beyond - they go beyond and beyond. High-value ticket sales do not happen every day. They happen once ever so often and if they manage to impress the customer, most likely, the existing customer will offer a referral to a new potential customer or a prospect.

However, what most don't realise, Closing a deal in this group is much easier than in want or desire group. If they love the item and more importantly if they love your service, they will buy it because it's on their radar and pretty much they can. Just as is in the "desire group", If your service is not super impressive and on a superior level, they will source the item on another continent for the experience and service they want. Majority of businesses in this category reach excellence level. If they are one-stop-shop a family business, that has an organisational customer service culture from top to bottom, will reach the superior level faster than multi-tier businesses with numerous outlets and channels.

Last but not least,

5. "Emotional, impulse/mood Buying" category.

This is where your service must be on a Superior Level. Customers in this category don`t plan to buy, want anything, they don`t have a specific desire when to buy any particular product or service to source on any given day. This group is vertically spread across all the categories, but the largest number of customers comes from the Just because I can sentiment. Customers in this group will buy from you - ONLY - if you have something special to offer or if you hit their buying tones, emotions and buttons.

If you manage to deliver the highest possible standard of Customer Service, If your service, touches their emotions, feelings and mood they will buy from you - unconditionally. Service that offers "One more thing" is their pleasure.

Customers from this category are your "marketing jackpot" customers. They can`t stop talking about your service, product and person who closed the sale. You have gained a customer for life and a walking talking billboard.

Unfortunately, customer service delivery and aftercare are directly affected by buying motivation. Providers know it, consumers know it and the CS quality gap between the categories is growing.

6 Customer Service levels

From my research and in my opinion, customer service quality, service delivery experience, and aftercare levels are primarily affected, based and delivered on consumers buying motivation. As the need grows, customer service level and quality declines. Bigger the demand, lower the emphasis on customer service. Larger the crowd, larger the customer migration between the group suppliers so much so that no one feels any difference.

Under the old measuring customer service chart, we use to divide customer service levels into 4 categories: Bellow average, Average, Above average and Excellent. As the difference and the gap in customer service quality is expanding and making the difference between the providers so obvious, using the new chart from my customer service and sales training manual work out to be more accurate and adequate. I will stay narrow in the description.

Customer Service level 1 - "Can`t be bothered"

The lowest level of customer service, (well below the average in the old chart) is the "Can`t be bothered" group of providers. The "1-800 who cares" hubs.

Providers from this hub are aware that the buying motivation behind their services or products is " The existential Need", and need to change about customer service quality is pretty much minimal. Manly out of two reasons: one is a need of a customer, they need to buy it - regardless, and two, the demand is high and the number of consumers... is more than enough to share with the competition.

Providers in this group realise that even if a very heavy consumer migration occurs, migration will have to occur from all sides and from all channels within the "need" category providers. Pretty much the theory is if they lose a hundred customers, 60% we'll migrate from other suppliers and eventually 30 to 40% off their customers will come back. Because of such a large volume of customers, customer service is not a high priority for them. They believe, that there is no need for continuous education, personal and professional development amongst their staff.

Customer Service level 2 - "They Need us"

Another well below the average, there is another group of suppliers with a smaller volume of customer migration. The attitude of this group translates into the following statement:

"They need us. They need to buy our product and we don't have to care as much." Just "Because the need " customers, must put up with any service providers have to offer.

Customer Service level 3 - "Sales First - Worry about Customer Later"

Right below the average are suppliers corresponding to the "want "group.

Sales first customer service can wait. The primary focus is given to sales and sales only but service delivery and aftercare suffer greatly.

Their organisational structure is based on sales culture. Pushing rather than nudging their clients. Aftercare is not their specialty and investing in customer service is not on their priority list.

Customer Service level 4 - "We'll be right - Investing in CS is for losers"

"We`ll be right" group of suppliers, desire to be preferred supplier and they will do a lot of things to improve their sales. The only problem with these suppliers is that desire stays desire. It is not converted into a goal or carry the cross all of their outlets in a synchronised manner. Most of the managers have been given the authority to handle their customer service on their own and arrange any necessary adjustment as reactively required.

They have a desire to be a preferred supplier, however, they do not have clearly defined goals across all the levels of business neither focus on providing Customer Service that can change heir business dramatically.

Customer Service level 5 - "We need to - If we don't, we're out"

The suppliers in this category have the CS mindset "We need to - otherwise...": Suppliers and providers in this group sell to the VIP category or how I call it " Because I Can" buyers.

Half of them reach the excellence level and the other half still have a lot more work to do to get there.

Suppliers know what it needs to be done and the effort they need to put in to be the best in business. The only thing preventing them from stepping up to the plate is the fear of asking for help and embarrassment of getting help. Their organisational structure is more customer experience and service delivery orientated. Sales in this group are not an issue and sales reps don`t need to push or nudge their clients. Buyers mind is already been made. Their clients need attention and care and assurance that if anything goes wrong, support will be there around the corner. Those that have "One more thing" are the one who crosses the excellence line. Aftercare and support are what sells here.

Customer Service level 6 - "Regardless - I'm gonna treat you like a king"

The crown of Customer service, service delivery and customer care are "Regardless" group os suppliers. Whatever your buying motivation is, who-ever you are and the strength of your buying power, you will be treated the same way every single time. Businesses in this category will do everything in their power to make you feel like a king: whether you are buying $5 item or $500K luxury item.

Regardless of the location of their outlet: if you are served by a sales or a customer service officer in town A or town Z. Regardless of when, where, who is serving you...you will get the same service without a fail. They always come up with an extra thing to deliver the WOW effect, regardless.

They will go above and beyond to get your business repeated.

Here, the customer is not always right and they will tell you if you're wrong, but you will be treated with respect and as a champion. Complaints are very rare and if any, the process is very swift and prompt, issues resolved urgently and followed by the corrective action.

Communication throughout is 360 degrees and organisational customer service culture is built in the business foundation. They live it, love it and stand by it. Organisations on this level, invest a huge amount of time, effort and money in training and staff development. With internal promotion as a priority, staff turnover is very low.

They treat internal departments as customers and strive to treat them equally as their paying customers - REGARDLESS!!!

You have to be above and beyond the level of great, to make it work for you and elevate your success. It's a tricky field. If you get stale and careless, it can and it will have huge consequences and impact on your business, family and friends. Customer service is the most undervalued branches of a business, but one that can make or break your business.

So much so that in many business examples, the sales staff is not required to have great customer service skills and customer service staff doesn't get to be involved in sales. If you are a salesperson and want a job, you need to be a hunter and have a proven history of being money-hungry. If you are a customer service staff, to get a job you need to have proven experience in the exact field and within the last 6 months. Terrible mistake by the employers.

Is it OK to have such a narrowminded view about customer service and sales staff skills?

What can we do as a society to move the scales of customer service?

Why is CS in the decline stage?

Would you agree that Customer Service staff training is a solution for service delivery quality?

What are your thoughts on CS staff "skill fusion"; Sales & Customer Service - Would you agree that CS staff should be trained in sales technique and strategies and sales staff trained in CS skills?

Leave us a comment below.

Thank you

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