EMOTIONS: THE SECRET TO A SUCCESSFUL CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE

Published on August 02, 2024  - Updated on August 13, 2024

EMOTIONS: THE SECRET TO A SUCCESSFUL CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE

Do you think that a silent customer is a satisfied customer? Think again, because you're wrong!

A customer won't always tell you how they feel, but they'll still feel a lot of emotions. According to Frédéric Durand, in an article published on RelationclientMag.fr, it's no longer a question of satisfying the customer. As long as they have a voice, customers will never stop expressing themselves, but when they don't, they certainly won't agree with what you're doing.

The quest for absolute customer satisfaction is futile in the absence of real emotional awareness. In fact, it is the emotions felt by your customer that give rise to what is known as brand perception.

When customer service simply deals with complaints, what really happens is beyond that. Customer satisfaction is no longer a luxury, it's the bare minimum, and it's the moments of enchantment, for example, that help to optimise customer loyalty and, in particular, the creation of positive emotions. Indeed, creating emotions is what differentiates you from your competitors.

WHAT IS AN EMOTION?

An emotion is a brief, intense state involving both our body and our mind. It can be caused by a reaction to an external stimulus perceived by our 5 senses. These emotions are specific to each individual and the impact of their decisions in response to them will be greater or lesser.

It is vital that these emotions are collected and interpreted so that actions can be taken to transform negative emotions into positive ones. Emotions play a key role in the customer experience. Emotions are therefore decisive in building customer loyalty. In fact, every individual who experiences a positive emotion will be more receptive to every new offer from a company.

Gathering and interpreting customers' emotions helps to transform negative experiences into positive ones, and plays an important role in building customer loyalty. Indeed, every individual who experiences a positive emotion will be more receptive to every offer and every new feature from a company.

To fully understand the impact of emotions on the customer experience, it is essential to examine their psychological and physiological aspects.

Psychological aspects of emotions

In psychological terms, emotions are strongly associated with individual experiences, ideas and memories. They can be triggered by a range of things, including internal reflections such as the memory of a previous incident and external events such as the unexpected celebration of a birthday. Emotions influence our perception of the world and often change the way we feel and think.

Happiness, for example, can increase our optimism and vitality, while sadness can cause us to reflect and lose energy. Motivation is also strongly influenced by emotions, which drive us towards certain activities and away from others. Emotions and cognition interact in complex ways, each having a major impact on the other.

Physiological aspects of emotions

Emotions trigger a series of physiological reactions that cause our bodies to respond in certain ways to different circumstances. The autonomic nervous system, which controls bodily processes such as breathing, hormone secretion and heart rate, mediates these reactions.

For example, fear can trigger the body's fight or flight response by increasing the heart rate, speeding up breathing and releasing adrenaline. Similarly, happiness can lead to the release of endorphins, which promote relaxation and a sense of well-being. These physiological changes can be measured using various biofeedback technologies and are often involuntary.

Primary and secondary emotions

Understanding the distinction between primary and secondary emotions is essential to understanding the complexity of human emotional experiences. Primary emotions are the basic, fundamental emotions we feel, while secondary emotions are more complex and often result from the interaction between primary emotions and cognitive processes.

Primary emotions

Primary emotions are the immediate, instinctive responses to stimuli. They are considered universal and biologically acquired, forming the basis of our emotional repertoire.

Examples of primary emotions:

Joy: A feeling of joy or pleasure often triggered by positive events.

Positive surprise: A brief emotional state experienced when something unexpected happens.

Sadness: A feeling of sadness or unhappiness, usually in response to loss or disappointment.

Fear: An emotion caused by the perception of danger or threat, which triggers a fight or flight response.

Disgust: A strong aversion often associated with something perceived as unpleasant or offensive.

Anger: A powerful emotion of dissatisfaction or hostility, usually in response to a perceived wrong.

Secondary emotions

Secondary emotions are more complex and are thought to develop through the cognitive processing of primary emotions. They often involve a combination of primary emotions and can be influenced by individual experiences, social norms and personal beliefs.

Examples of secondary emotions:

Guilt:A complex emotion combining sadness and fear, often arising from the belief that we have done something wrong.

Shame: A mixture of sadness and fear, but more focused on a negative self-evaluation.

Pride: A combination of happiness and a sense of achievement, often linked to personal achievements or those of others with whom we are closely associated.

Jealousy: A complex emotion involving anger, fear and sadness, usually in response to perceived threats to an important relationship.

Envy: An emotion combining feelings of desire and resentment towards someone who possesses something desirable.

Differences and importance

Primary emotions : These are immediate, instinctive and often universal in all cultures. They fulfil essential survival functions, such as reacting to threats or appreciating positive experiences.

Secondary emotions: These are more complex and shaped by personal and social contexts. They help us navigate complex social interactions and develop a deeper understanding of our emotional experiences.

Understanding primary and secondary emotions is crucial to emotional intelligence, as it enables individuals to better recognise, interpret and respond to their own emotions and those of others. This knowledge can lead to better emotional regulation, healthier relationships and greater overall well-being.

Plutchnik's wheel of emotions.

The role of emotions in the customer journey.

Emotions play a crucial role in our daily experience, influencing our decisions, our relationships and our general well-being. Understanding the impact of emotions on these aspects of life is crucial to

The impact of emotions on Decision Making.

Emotions significantly influence our decision-making processes. Although logical reasoning is important, our emotional state often influences our choices, sometimes unconsciously.

• Emotional bias : Emotions can create biases in decision-making. For example, when we are happy, we tend to be more optimistic and take more risks. Conversely, when we are sad or anxious, we become more cautious and reluctant to take risks.
  

• Immediate reactions: Strong emotions can lead to immediate and often impulsive decisions. Anger can provoke a hasty reaction, while fear can lead to hesitation or avoidance.
  

• Long-term effects: Emotions also affect our long-term decisions. Chronic stress or prolonged happiness can influence major life choices, such as changing careers or moving house.
  

The Impact of Emotions on Purchasing Decisions

Emotions have a significant influence on customers' purchasing decisions. They can determine whether a customer will choose to buy a product or service and how often they will return.

• First impressions: First interactions with a brand, such as browsing a website or being greeted in-store, generate emotions that can create an immediate connection or rejection.
  

• Emotion and Perception of Value: A customer who feels welcomed and appreciated will perceive a higher value in the products or services on offer, which may justify a higher price.
  

• Purchase Motivation: Positive emotions such as excitement, confidence and happiness can motivate impulse buying and long-term loyalty. Conversely, negative emotions can deter purchases.
  

The Importance of Emotional Intelligence in the Customer Journey

Emotional Intelligence (EI) is essential for understanding and managing customer emotions throughout the customer journey.

• Empathy: Understanding customers' emotions enables companies to better respond to their needs and expectations, thereby delivering a more satisfying customer experience.
  
• Adaptability: Employees with high emotional intelligence can adapt to different emotional situations, turning negative interactions into positive opportunities.
  
• Engagement: Effective emotional management increases customer engagement, making them more loyal and more likely to recommend the brand.
  

If understanding the impact of emotions on decision-making, purchasing and the customer journey is important, then emotional detection is obvious. But how do you identify your customers' emotions?

HOW TO IDENTIFY YOUR CUSTOMERS' EMOTIONS?

In an increasingly competitive market, understanding your customers' emotions is no longer an option; it has become essential if you want to offer a customer experience that stands out from the crowd. This emotional data is known as "feel data". This is the data that brings together all the emotional data collected to understand how customers feel each time they interact with the brand. By using this feel data, you can not only improve your products and services, but also strengthen customer loyalty and trust. But how do you analyse this 'feel data'?

There are several ways of doing this.

• First, facial analysis uses expression recognition technologies to detect emotions such as joy or frustration on customers' faces. For example, a camera can capture customers' reactions when using a product in shop.

• Then, voice analysis focuses on variations in the tone, rhythm and volume of customers' voices during calls to customer service, revealing feelings such as irritation or enthusiasm.

• Thirdly, behavioural analysis observes customers' actions, such as browsing a website or spending time on certain pages, to infer their emotions.

• Finally, text analysis examines comments and reviews left by customers on social networks and review platforms, using natural language processing algorithms to identify feelings such as satisfaction or dissatisfaction. For example, a tool like Q°emotion can enable you to analyse online reviews left by your customers or your survey verbatims in order to categorise them into the themes of your choice and assess your success points and irritants concerning your products or services. This is a particularly effective analysis for guiding you in the priority actions to take. Bear in mind that a hot insight represents a point of delight and a cold insight an irritant.
  

By combining these four methods, your company can obtain a complete picture of its customers' emotions, thereby improving their satisfaction and loyalty.

Let's take two examples to illustrate this. Suppose you want to understand what your customers deeply dislike or, on the contrary, what delights them. The aim here is to identify feelings of disgust or delight. To do this, we can analyse the underlying emotions expressed by your customers.

By carefully observing their emotional reactions, we can pick up valuable clues.

WHAT DISGUSTS YOUR CUSTOMERS?

Just talk. It promises a lot, but delivers little. When a customer expects one result and is confronted with a less pleasant one, the main emotion they give off will be:

• Anger, because they are not indifferent and they want us to listen to their opinion.
  
• Frustration, because he wants us to apologise to him
  
• Disappointment, in which case they will no longer trust you.
  

Their emotions will not always be expressed explicitly, but when they feel these three negative emotions they will become detractors of your brand.

It's not so pleasant, is it?

The aim is therefore to deal with these negative emotions through detailed analysis. Being aware of emotions is one thing, but analysing them is quite another. This analysis will reveal the main points that lead to negative customer behaviour.

WHAT DELIGHTS YOUR CUSTOMERS?

What your customers really want can only be expressed through positive emotions. They want sensations, interaction; your customers want you to create emotion for them.

Your customers want to experience :

Surprise: They want your achievements to exceed their expectations, and for you to go beyond what your competitors are doing to satisfy them. Play the game!

Happiness: Your customers want to smile, they want you to make their hearts sing and they want you to spread happiness. Your customers can tell when you want them to be happy, and they want you to be happy.

Gratitude: They want you to be grateful. A "Thank you" has the power to make your customer feel so close to you when your competitors fail to do so.

Detailed analysis of these emotions will help you to identify the points of delight in your customer journeys. In fact, it is these that will enable you to identify what your customers like, so that you can capitalise on it. Emotions are a central element of the customer journey. By recognising and effectively managing customer emotions, companies can not only improve the customer experience, but also strengthen loyalty and encourage lasting, positive relationships with their customers.

A tool like Q°emotion allows you to categorise the themes of your choice in order to assess your success points and irritants with regard to your products or services, so as to guide you in the priority actions to take. Knowing that a hot insight represents a point of delight and a cold insight an irritant.

OUR ADVICE FOR YOUR COMPANY?

Listen to your customers. Analyse their emotions, understand them, and do what it takes to make them happy. Your customers are a double-edged sword. They give off emotions everywhere, when they call you on the phone, when they contact you by email, when they fill in your questionnaires and even when they express themselves on social networks. They can even become ambassadors for your brand.

What's more, it's important to remember that in the majority of cases, consumer decisions are based on their emotions. Take the example of the release of a new iPhone: the emotion and interest shown by the customer will lead to a purchase, without any real need for a new phone. Consumers are not rational, and their choices will be influenced by their experience of the brand as a customer.

As a company, it is therefore vital to focus on emotional marketing, which builds on the emotional ties between customers and the brand.

This is exactly where a tool like Q°emotion can help. Our solution allows you to analyse your customers' comments, classified by emotion, over a chosen period.

So you can assess the overall emotion of your customers and also find out the reasons for this emotion.

Q°emotion is an effective and intuitive solution that will facilitate the emotional analysis of your customers and give you a competitive edge in the market thanks to a strategy focused on customer emotions.

We therefore invite you to read this article in full and become aware of the importance of the emotional dimension for a successful customer experience.