The CEO of Netflix recently said that they compete with Facebook, YouTube and sleep. While Netflix competes with my sleep at 1AM, you know for a fact that every business out there is competing for your attention. So, what do you do with your customer’s attention? Well there are really only two options: You can save their attention or seize their attention.
Save their attention by helping them focus on other activities and interests that matter to them and they will be thankful or seize their attention and deliver delightful experiences that they may cherish; bringing back customers and driving growth.
Netflix offers a case study on both aspects. Clearly they seized my attention at 1AM when I binge watched my favorite shows and that’s not a strange coincidence because we all know there is a lot of personalization that goes into it. We all heard lots about it and read lots about it. But I want to direct your attention today towards a forgotten moment in the customer journey that many of us have been through as Netflix customers.
If you have ever had to speak with a Netflix customer service associate in one of their call centers, you probably don’t remember calling a 1-800 number, listening to the phone menus, waiting on hold and then getting in front of an agent who asks you who you are and what you want. You don’t remember this because Netflix has drastically shortened the journey it takes for a customer to get human assistance by joining up their digital and phone channels
Now we all know that a substantial number of callers go to a company’s website before they decide to make a phone call. That being said, many companies today still make customers jump through hoops before they can speak to a human. Now this is bad for business. Businesses don’t save money by doing this and at the same time it’s bad for a customer’s experience. Clearly there is a lot to be desired. Now it is unlikely that you would stay with Netflix if they did not seize your attention with content that was compelling and so entertaining. That said, would you leave Netflix if they offered you a painful, high effort experience?
If you dig this kind of stuff and if you’re interested in defining moments of delight or defining moments of frictionless experiences throughout your customer’s journey. I would suggest that you take a look at the book, Power of Moments by Chip Heath and Dan Heath where they talk about why certain experiences make extraordinary impact while others don’t. As well as checking out The Future of Customer Experience report from Trend Watching. Thank you for your time and attention.
