Studies show that even economists think happiness is  one of the best indicators of a healthy and prosperous society. Indeed, research shows that while money can make you and your customers happier, it also shows that after certain basic needs are met, it doesn’t make you that much happier!!!

There is always a dilemma, in life it seems. However as business owners, we truly need to understand people, so that we can offer products and services that make our customers happy and hopefully keep them happy.

If you think about it, in effect we are all selling the promise of happiness through the purchase of our individual products and services. The question in this context is: how long does this happiness actually last? and what effect does this have on the mind of the customer and on their opinion of our offerings? This can impact, reselling and upselling possibilities to this customer, should they acquire a negative view of your business.

The question is, as a business owner: how can you keep YOUR Customers happy?

First of all, you need to reaffirm that customers are better known and understood as people and as individuals. with this in mind, you need to understand that nowadays, people aka customers want to spend their money on experiences not just on things. Why? Because as Dr. Thomas Gilovich of Cornell University states:  ” One of the enemies of happiness is adaptation”. This means that as a society and as individuals, our happiness when buying products especially, does not last as long as having a genuine customer experience.

For example, as a school kid, you may really, really, really  have wanted to buy a car, when you do so, you became super excited for ages, however after a while, it becomes the norm and you moved onto wanting the next thing in your life.

The point being that products are external to a customer and after a while the customer adapts to their purchase and the overall experience of owning a car is not as exciting as it was at the start. However a genuine customer experience becomes an integral part of a customer’s life and can be told and retold as part of their life story for years.

For Example: you may go on holiday on a cruise ship. This customer experience can be shared throughout their lifetime and becomes part of their overall life experience. When they meet other people that have been on cruises they can share  their experiences and can share different aspects of their trip with different types of people, when the occasion arises.

All in all a good customer experience, DOES NOT devalue, it remains part of a customer’s overall life experience, to be drawn upon at key moments.

Examples of experiential offerings are:

1. holidays
2. sporting occasions
3. hosting a book launch, so that customers can have the experience of meeting others as well as buying the book
4. going to a show
5. having a real good lunch on offer for your clients at a workshop venue,

Essentially it is about providing moments of joy for your customers through the purchase of a product or service. These moments of joy can then be retold as part of the customer’s story, over and over again. IE. creating word of mouth marketing for your business.  

Here are the 5 Tips that will help you keep your customers happy & begging for more:

1.  Senses: Create sensory experiences for your customers by being aware of their five senses: Sight, hearing, taste, smell & touch. Ask yourself if your product or service appeals to would be customers on any of these levels? if the answer is no, you have to start figuring out how you can create an experience that appeals to at least one of these senses. Example: an art gallery or something in our office or as part of your offering will have visual appeal for your customers. Remember this may be on a subconscious level for customers & they may be unaware of how certain senses trigger a positive response and appeals to their emotional side.
2. Feel: How customers feel during the experience – excited, happy, enthralled etc. You need to do some research on how your customers currently feel and also how they would preferably LIKE to feel when buying from you
3. Think: To have creative experiences for your clients. for example creating an exclusive dining experience for your customers in a themed restaurant.
4. Physical Experiences: Creating lifestyle experiences for your customers, such as going on a hiking holiday in the mountains
5. Relate: These experiences can then be relatable to others, causing your customers to bond with other people through shared experiences. This strengthens & lengthens the duration a customer’s happiness levels

Key Takeaway: 

so do you provide at least one or more of these experiences for your clients, if so how many? and how well do you execute the customer’s experience

The answers will determine the level of happiness your customers experience

photo credit:pixabay

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