Who are you and why should I buy?

Honestly: Do all your touchpoints really show the same emotional picture? I know: Professional CEM (Customer Experience Management) in retail- as in other industries – is like pulling together a puzzle. So many bits and pieces that need to fit together. So many bits and pieces that might lead to irritation if missing or showing “unexpected” details. And yes: an exciting game but still a challenging one for a lot of retailers in the battle of daily customer decision making. So many unknown touchpoints that nobody has ever dealt with or thought of before: Social media, rating platforms, on/offline combinations, new advertising strategies, showrooming, the shopping experience itself with all the different known elements from product range, store design, services, etc.

Do all of these touchpoints along the customer decision journey talk the same emotional language? Are you sure you know and (!) are proactively designing all those touchpoints out there? Do I get to see the same picture whether I`m an applicant, a customer or a journalist? Does this emotional picture differ from all the other competitors out there and help your customers to feel the unconscious emotional “yes” for their buying decisions all along the way?

No wonder it makes sense to bring in neuro-expertise to all those elements of this complicated puzzle as the picture needs to be built so carefully and with so much attention to detail. But you probably already know what I´m heading at: No expert has a chance to create his input if the prerequisite - the basis of it all - is not clear enough: Who are you? Who is your target group?

Now we are talking about limbic positioning as the first step with all the necessary consequences for the elements of your puzzle. Those need to strategically derive from this first step. Only then your customers will get the chance to experience the difference at all levels, at every single moment of truth: no matter if reading an article, talking to friends, seeing an ad, picking up the phone to call your employees or just happens to walk into your store.

It can be fun working with such attention to detail. And be sure of one thing: Once your people know what makes your company special – know their uniqueness, have experienced (!) how much fun it can be to surprise and inspire their customers, they will be part of the ongoing game – ensuring the consistency of your emotional message as well as the everyday customer experience.

Every touchpoint counts… so let´s start working on them with all our expertise: what do you stand for? 

Karin Glattes, UnternehmenKunde Germany, is an expert on customer experience management supporting companies in various industries in their culture change towards customer-centricity. She includes neuroscientific insight and the latest results at many stages of her projects. After finishing her studies in Vienna, Austria, her career started off in public relations at Burson Marsteller Austria, followed by change management work at Accenture as well as TMI.