Why Satisfied Customers Still Decide to Leave

Scenario: You are completely satisfied with the cellphone provider you’ve had for the past years. Very few complaints, if any. The company you work for undergoes reconstruction and you have to take a pay cut. A friend tells you that his family plan is more inexpensive than yours and it covers his Netflix bill for one year. You immediately call your carrier to cancel and make the switch without thinking twice about it. Your former provider won’t see any more monthly recurring revenue from you.

But why? You were completely satisfied.

The truth is, although you may have a great emotional connection with a brand, are very satisfied and would recommend the company; if your lifestyle or the market shifts, it will affect your perceptions, expectations, and ultimately your decisions.

What’s going on when customers are making decisions? The answer is, A LOT! And it’s both emotional and rational.

The Decision Thought Cycle

Let’s look at a few factors that are directly tied into our buying decisions.

1. Need

First, a need arises caused by our circumstance(s). We will always have needs to fulfill.

For example, let’s say I need transportation to get my kids to school and commute to work. The need for transportation has always been present. How we fulfill that need changes. In the past, we traveled by horseback, now we use cars, and in the future, perhaps we’ll teleport.

2. Expectation(s)

There are certain expectations we carry as it relates to what we’re seeking to purchase. Those expectations can be low or high. Whatever the case, we have them and we want them met. As you know, expectations can change. Customers see the latest and greatest innovations in the market and raise their expectations.

Since the technology is available, I may search for an electric, self-driving car. In doing so, I expect to save money on gas, be ecological, and not exert energy driving. I immediately go into search mode to find a solution to fulfill my need while addressing my expectations.

3. The “Worth It” Analysis

It is at this stage that we weigh the costs vs. benefits of our forthcoming decision to finally arrive at our “worth it” conclusion, the last and most powerful conclusion in the decision-making process. We ask ourselves that final question, “Is it worth it?”

Back to the electric, self-driving car that I’d like to buy. I ask myself whether it is within my budget, the best price, the quality meets my expectations, etc.

This is also the point where I decide on what compromises I am willing to make. Does the car have to be self-driving? Can I live without those seat warmers or that nice sunroof?

Within this part of the cycle, I can’t fail to mention those external forces that play a role in this process, adding their “two cents”; the influencers.

Influencers are people and factors that influence you along the journey in the decision-making process. Influencers can talk you in or out of what you need or expect. This can also come in the form of reviews and ratings that we all read during our worth it analysis. Influencers help us validate if we’re managing the decision correctly.

4. Customer Decisions

Finally, we’ve arrived at our decision on what is worth it or not.

Based on my worth it analysis, I’ve made the best choice considering the intensity of my need, my expectations, my available budget, and the offers available in the market.

I’ve decided that instead of an electric, self-driving car from Tesla, I’m buying a hybrid BMW. I’ll still fulfill my expectations of saving gas and having an eco-friendly car, and found it easy to compromise on the self driving feature.

5. Continuous cycle

As long as needs exists, the entire cycle from expectation to decision will continue. It only reduces its urgency once the need is somehow addressed. Our minds run through this cost-benefit analysis every time we buy.

The Worth It Conclusion has long been overlooked, but it’s the last piece needed to round out your existing Customer Experience Management (CEM) system. It has the most impact on customer decisions and it’s the only one that leads companies directly to the source of what is causing the money flow from customers’ pockets to their bottom line profits.

With the speed of change in today’s technology and expectations, customer satisfaction and recommendation levels are no longer enough to guarantee loyalty. As soon as innovation enters the market, it sets new expectations and your customers will leave you if your business is not quick enough to adapt.

This is why companies can’t stop innovating their customer experiences and updating their value propositions.

This post is an excerpt from our eBook Measuring CX Beyond Satisfaction and Recommendation.

Originally published at blog.worthix.com.