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Each year I run several Customer Loyalty Management Master Practitioner Programmes, some are designed for specific organisations, others are open for anyone to attend -for future opens of this Programme, please contact us. In these programmes, we consider how the right kind of Customer Experiences, those that will build worthwhile Customer Loyalty, are created. We focus on the fact that it is not Customer Experiences that have the greatest influence on customers’ future loyalty. It is the Memory of Experiences, and very often, it is the memory of just certain small elements within the overall Experiences.

This means that the challenge is not to focus on Customer Experiences generally, it is much more important to focus on how to implant in overall Customer Experiences, elements that will be viewed as positive, valued, and above all remembered, so that they will influence the customer’s future behaviour and loyalty the way we want.

According to the Nobel Prize winning psychologist Daniel Kahneman, the things that are most likely to be remembered are Changes (things that are not as we expected them to be), Significant Events (things that ‘stand out’ and probably trigger emotions), and Endings (the final part of any experience). So, if you want to focus on creating Loyalty Building Memories, you might consider the following –

Changes – Find ways to implant Pleasant Surprises. These will be positive elements within Experiences that were not expected and/or are better than was expected.

Significant Events – Build into Customer Experiences things that will ‘stand out’ and therefore be significant. The best way to do this is to find ways to build personal and emotional elements into any Experience.

Endings – These are not just the last bit of an Experience. There will be endings to many of the elements within an overall Experience that could be made memorable. Therefore, Customer Experience Journey Mapping needs to be sufficiently detailed to highlight all the many individual elements within the overall experience so you may identify and focus on where you might create loyalty building endings.

Extensive research, and my own experience, has shown that what is remembered from an Experience has far more influence on future loyalty than the actual overall Experience. So, remember that Memory Matters and focus attention on building Memory Making Positive Elements into all Customer Experiences.

© Copyright Chris Daffy