There are make-or-break events that litter the narrative of our lives, events that we might call ‘moments of truth’.
These are situations where people’s actions, intellect and capability are put to the test, where key decisions or actions change the course of the future. Some of them involve split-second decision-making, and others are deliberated before a final decision is made.
For marketers and associates in customer-facing situations, that ‘moment of truth‘ has a similar meaning, the occasion where customer interaction is so impactful that it alters the customer’s disposition and perception of the brand.
This alteration can forever change the relationship between the brand and the customer, for better or worse.
Focusing on the ‘moments of truth‘ ultimately means spending time and effort on the most valuable aspects of the customer journey and focusing on the moments that truly matter.
The term ‘moment of truth’ is a translation of the Spanish el momento de la verdad, which signifies the time in a bullfight in which the matador is about to ceremoniously kill the bull.
It is a bit gruesome but it was first described in English by Ernest Hemingway in his story Death in the Afternoon, published in 1932, and subsequently was transferred to other critical outcomes. The term was first coined for use in marketing by AG Lafley, former Chairman, President and CEO of Procter & Gamble (P&G) in 2005 when he claimed there were two moments of truth. A third was later added later by Pete Blackshaw – another P&G alumnus.
- The first moment of truth is when a customer first encounters a product or service. This is when marketers, brand promoters and representatives have the opportunity to convince the customer to buy their goods instead of another’s.
- The second moment of truth comes after the purchase and hinges on the discovery of full alignment or misalignment of the product or service in relation to their expectations or problem to solve.
- The third moment of truth is the tipping point of advocacy where the customer actually becomes a net promoter.
McKinsey & Co considers the moment of truth in customer service as any time when a person invests a “high amount of emotional energy” in a particular outcome in relation to brand interaction. It follows then, that when emotions are running high, so are the stakes for a given brand. Genuine emotional connections are critical in the journey and these can result in a sink or swim outcome.
Fostering loyalty
As many as a third of customers will abandon a loved brand after just one bad customer experience. Almost three-quarters of consumers will ghost a brand after three or fewer negative customer service experiences per a Coveo survey cited by retail dive. A more recent TCN’s “Consumer Insights about Customer Service” survey claims 66% of Americans are likely to abandon a brand after a poor customer service experience
Banking industry research shows similar consumer behaviour with 15% of customers who had negative experiences during a moment of truth switching banks soon after. 20% more stopped using specific products and almost a quarter began buying services from another provider, even if they stayed with their current one. Almost three-quarters actively changed their relationship with their bank in a negative way.
Of course, as expected, ‘positive’ moments of truth have the opposite effect.
As few as 13% are inert after a great moment of truth experience, so from this we can infer that moments of truth inspire customers to take action – the kind of action they take depends on the quality of the encounter or interaction.
Not every interaction with a customer is going to result in an emotional outcome, reporting lost bank cards, querying suspicious transactions or asking about other inquiring about other banking products or services are quite normal. They tend to be high touch and involve a lot of emotional investment from the customer. The way they feel treated and the final outcome of the interaction leaves them with a positive, negative or neutral disposition.
On the flip side, the purchase of a bagel or a cup of coffee might not be that big of a deal for some, though it may be a ritual for a coffee shop customer. Buying flowers or a bouquet for delivery could go either way depending on the nature of the event and the quality of the outcome. You have to assess the likelihood of high emotional investment and determine whether it is likely to be there and behave and act accordingly.
Ultimately, most customers simply want proactive communication appropriate to their relationship with the brand, a sense of caring, and responsiveness amongst frontline staff with a knowledge of their history.
Empowering employees to be flexible in their engagement is best achieved by providing data that provides the associate with customer insights on the fly.
In the end, people want friendly, empathetic and personalised service. Pretectum believes that one of the easiest ways to enable your teams for positive moments of truth is by providing them with access to as many insights and data points about the customer as possible. This can be via direct access to the Customer Master Data Management systems (CMDM) or it can be achieved through the use of API integration with the Pretectum CMDM SaaS platform from your service, sales and support applications.
Contact us today to learn more.