Wednesday, June 23, 2010

Use Consumer Karma to Build Repeat Business

Understanding our shoppers’ belief systems can reveal openings for building commitment. The understanding also can head off miscommunication when dealing with people from cultures other than our own. Research findings from Dartmouth College and Columbia University provide an example of all this under the heading of karma and customer service.
      Karma—which is most strongly associated with India—is a belief system centered around long-term consequences. As we look forward in our lives, the decisions we make now affect what happens to us in the future. Good actions will produce good results at some point. Turning to look behind, we’ll see that what is going on with us now is the result of our past. The thoughts we’ve had, the words we’ve said, the actions we’ve taken, the deeds we’ve instructed others to take on our account or while under our control.
      This is true for everyone, since even the youngest child possesses a past, having lived a succession of existences. Universally, pleasant experiences will happen for us now because of good we’ve done in this or a former life. My unpleasant experiences are the consequences of my bad thoughts, words, and deeds in the past.
      Are you seeing what any of this has to do with customer service? The Dartmouth/Columbia researchers found that consumers who believe in karma are more patient in resolving complaints about retailers than are consumers who don’t believe in karma. The other side of this—since as with good and bad, there is always the other side—is that people who believe in karma are more persistent than those who don’t. Even if they were to attribute bad customer service to their own past bad actions, they do not lower their expectations for good customer service. After all, these consumers want to see themselves as good, and one indicator that they’ve been good is that they finally receive good customer service from you.
      When serving customers from an East Indian cultural background and serving others who demonstrate a belief in karma, recognize the added importance of patience and persistence in building their repeat business.

Click below for more: Maintain Customer Faith Tailor Loyalty Programs to Customer Culture Target Customer Segments with Cultural Events

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