Human connection creates the strongest customer relationships. And according to Dr. Ron Friedman, the creator of ignite80 and a social psychologist with expertise in human motivation, satisfying consumers’ psychological needs is a potent and economical way to increase customer happiness, loyalty, and retention.
“We know, for example, that if people have these needs met at work, they’re going to be healthier, happier, and more productive — if they have it in their marriages, their marriages are going to be more successful,” Friedman said. “We have decades of research showing that people have three basic human psychological needs that extend to every experience in life. The logical conclusion is that the same psychological needs apply to the consumer experience as well.
What Are the Three Fundamental Needs of Human Psychology?
According to Friedman, three things can satisfy a person’s fundamental psychological needs:
Mastery: Believing that you are consistently improving and that you are good at what you do. 61% of those polled preferred learning how to fix a problem on their own than having a provider do it for them.
Feeling linked, respected, and cherished by others is a sign of relatedness. According to the report, just 33% of vendors who offer poor service know their customers directly compared to 70% of vendors who offer outstanding service. Customers favour vendors who utilise humour and their first names, suggesting a tighter relationship, along the same lines.
Autonomy: The capacity for free will. The majority of respondents (58%) stated that they would rather be given a choice between several answers than to have a single solution to an issue.
Baby Boomers and Generation Z’s Generational Divide
For the CX industry, understanding customer psychology can lead to some interesting outcomes.
In a survey titled “The Science Behind Strong Customer Relationships,” conducted by Friedman and Front, a communication and software business, researchers found that almost two thirds of respondents prioritise excellent customer service over excellent pricing. One of the research’s most intriguing conclusions, according to Friedman, is that the shorter the leash, the older the buyer.
In contrast to Gen Z, who are ready to wait the equivalent of a movie’s running duration (2 hours and 14 minutes) for that same phone call, the study’s findings suggest that Baby Boomers will only wait as long as it takes to boil an egg (about eight minutes).
In addition, Baby Boomers will only wait two hours for an email response, whereas Gen Z will wait a half-day.
“A rapid response time is the single best indicator of strong customer service. However, there are some nuances because younger customers are much more forgiving while older customers are a little bit more ruthless, according to Friedman. “Senior team members typically oversee financial decisions, so if your response times are slow and they are trying to get in touch with you, you’re endangering the business connection,” the author says.
Do Your Brand’s Values Align With Those of Generation Z?
The Benefit of Chatbots
According to McKinsey & Company’s The State of Customer Care in 2022 report, firms that are having trouble finding talent intend to increase the number of digital interactions by 1.5 times by 2024, particularly by using more chatbots and AI tools. They also note that new recruits necessitate extensive staff training, with 41% of leaders questioned stating that it takes between three and six months to educate a new employee for optimal performance, and 20% stating that it takes longer than six months.
Contrary to the majority of human workers, chatbots can provide 24/7 rapid, efficient customer care and service. They may also help retain the few remaining human workers by handling the more monotonous, repetitive tasks so that they can concentrate on more fulfilling projects. They have advanced significantly over time, and the market is now swamped with options, ranging from rule-based chatbots for simple tasks to ones that use high-performance AI.
According to the State of Care report, which indicates a 30% growth in the number of businesses offering customer service through chatbots, Greg Bennett, director of conversational design at Salesforce, quoted this statistic.
Bennett stated that while chatbots are undoubtedly not the main component of customer care, they are a fantastic way to address straightforward queries. “By deploying bots to execute straightforward customer care activities, agents are freed up to concentrate on more difficult service encounters that call for a human touch, particularly when it comes to empathetic behaviour that builds enduring relationships with customers.”
Are You Able To Meet Customers’ Expectations?
No matter how sophisticated the technology or how intelligent the AI, according to Friedman, a large part of the customer experience comes down to the expectations of the consumer, and those expectations can influence everything that happens moving forward.
