Building Confidence to Generate Customer Retention

Do you think you will get seven years bad luck if you break a mirror? Do you dislike sitting in the 13th row of an aircraft or staying on the 13th floor of a hotel? Over 50% of Americans are superstitious according to a blog by Alex Lickerman, M.D.

The interesting aspect of superstition is that people’s performance can improve because of it. I am a case in point. I follow a ritual/process, during conference speaking; before I deliver a key note speech. I find somewhere private; go through a series of ‘brain exercises’ to sharpen my brain and therefore my performance. I should say ‘theoretically’ sharpen my brain. I have no idea if the exercises do sharpen my brain or whether I now just think they do. If I don’t follow this ritual for some reason I always feel less confident when I am presenting. If I then do not perform at 100% of my capabilities I ‘blame’ the fact I didn’t undertake the ritual. Crazy eh? But that is what people are. We are crazy and irrational – as I outlined at my SXSW speech this year and a recent webinar ‘Customers are irrational’.

I will always remember my son asking me to buy him a special pair of soccer boots when he was about 10 years old. These were the latest boots at the time called Predators. Apparently they helped bend the ball. The reality was that whilst my son enjoyed his soccer, he would never be David Beckham. The boots were expensive for a ten year old. I tried to reason with him and explain logically, and in a positive way, that these boots would not really improve his performance as he could bend the ball very well anyway. As I was explaining this to him, choosing my words carefully not to upset him, I realised I was missing the point. The point was that he thought these boots would help him. He thought he would be able to bend the ball better. The very fact that he thought this increased his confidence in his abilities and, because of that, he played better. It’s all in the mind…. by the end of my explanation, and looking at his sad and confused face, I decided I should just buy the boots! He loved them!

What has this to do with the Customer Experience? Alex’s blog about superstition and my son’s story are both examples of how people can boost their ‘confidence’, an emotion, and how this then can improve performance. The same applies in a Customer Experience. If a Customer feels more confident they will feel better. Boosting customer confidence can be achieved in many ways. Keeping them informed of progress, putting them in control and being transparent. All these things increase their confidence and they are more likely to be loyal to you.