One of the three motivators that we all share as customers is attention.
Attention fulfills our need to feel important and supports our desire to know that we count. The opposite is to feel ignored, which customers interpret as they don’t matter and are not valued. This is a powerful force and, as with most emotional responses, is immediate.
Think about the last time you called for customer service and went through several telephone prompts before you got a person on the phone. Like me, you probably tried to outsmart the recording by saying “customer rep,” “agent,” “customer service,” or by pressing “0,” “9,” or “1,” only to find yourself back at the main menu.
It doesn’t take much for this to make us anxious, upset, or angry. It’s hard for even the greatest of brands and businesses to recover from ignoring the customer.
Mutual Respect and Attention
In our relationships to one another, the first indicator of mutual respect is whether one person shows an interest in the other.
I define mutual respect as people treating one another in the manner in which they want to be treated. This is not possible unless each person is willing to pay attention and listen to the other.
The focus on attention is the key to the brand strength of Lands’ End and defines its customer service. Until the latter part of 2012, when it first incorporated a voice prompt system, customer calls were answered at any time of the day or night within two rings. Twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, you found yourself talking to real person, not an automated system of multiple menus.
The speed with which the company connected by telephone, and now online chat, is vital to how its customers interpret the value of its products. This focus on customer attention is Lands’ End’s passion and shows up in every facet of the organization. Many businesses can sell you a quality shirt. It is how Lands’ End does it that makes the difference. By paying attention and thereby making the customer feel important, Lands’ End separates itself from its competition.
Many powerful and successful brands now motivate customers by paying attention to them.
Think about Facebook, YouTube, and the host of providers of social media. Being “social” is engaging in giving and receiving attention from one another. In light of our current demographics, this is a powerful force. Whether a business is large or small, demographics should not be overlooked when defining brand strategy.
Demographics support the significance of attention
As we move through the second decade of the twenty-first century, the baby boomer generation is the largest group in our economy and workforce. In the United States, there are 76 to 80 million people in this generation.
The second largest group is the Echo or Millennium generation, also known as Generation Y or the New Millennials—the children of the baby boomers. Born between the early 1980s and the early 2000s, this group is 72 to 75 million (U.S.) strong. Its members grew up with the new technology and have come to rely on it, spending endless amounts of time using it.
Depending on the study, sociologists claim that 35 to 45 percent of the formative years of New Millennials were spent alone in front of computer screens, televisions, and video games. As a result, they crave attention. As they moved through adolescence and entered adulthood as consumers, this need became a major influence—one well worth business leaders’ attention (no pun intended).
The generation immediately before them, Generation X, includes approximately 49 to 51 million (U.S.) people born between the mid 1960s and early 1980s. This is a much smaller group, often referred to as the ignored generation. When it comes to technology and need for attention, this group shares many of the characteristics of the GenYers.
In addition to explaining why social media has become such a global force and phenomenal marketing tool, the demographic data demonstrates how powerful attention is to businesses. There’s a significant benefit to understanding its part in the emotional attractiveness of a product or service. And how it can be leveraged through a company’s product or service and brand intention.
Attention is a key to building successful customer relationships.
Customer attention is the cornerstone and foundation for many great brands and the intention of their products or services.
The importance of attention is not limited to large businesses. Like Disney, Harley-Davidson, and Lands’ End, even the smallest business can leverage attention as a key value and source of motivation.
Edgar Papke is the co-author of Innovation By Design and author of True Alignment and The Elephant In The Boardroom. He helps leaders and their organizations align to create greater levels of innovation, performance, and fulfillment. He can be reached by email: edgar@edgarpapke.com