Customer engagement critical yet elusive

New book expands on study showing customer engagement is critical yet elusive

Why is customer engagement so important yet so difficult to attain? A recent worldwide study by the Economist Intelligence Unit found that the overwhelming majority of executives believe that customer engagement, not products or price, is the winning competitive differentiator. Yet, less than 13% of these executives believe their customers are fully engaged with their company.

John I. Todor, Ph.D. author of a new book, "Addicted Customers: How to Get Them Hooked on Your Company," points out that most businesses simply don't have a methodology to make the shift from product-centric, transactional business practices to ones that focus on the customer.

In his book, Todor makes a distinction between engagement as getting customers' attention and focusing it on purchase, and customer engagement that leads to desire and long-term commitment. He states "To make an enduring and meaningful connection, the connection must be engaging and get the customer engaged. The company must draw the customer into the experience and the customer must get emotionally and psychologically involved."
Why is this so difficult? Todor, a psychologist and business strategy consultant, makes the case that each customer uses one of two buying personalities and the circumstances dictate which one comes into play. In his book, he shows how most companies are courting the wrong personality. "Companies trigger the indifferent buying personality that focuses on the best trade-off between price, incentives and convenience" says Todor. As a result, he contends, customers focus on purchases as a "means-to-an-end," the utility that will enable them to complete a task. In an era of abundance and overwhelming choice, customers can play competitors against each other and have no reason to be loyal.

In contrast, Todor contends "the engaged personality comes into play when the experience enabled by the product has meaning or value to the customer, not just in the sense of utility but because it is intrinsically gratifying. That is, the customer experience involves customers emotionally or psychologically and this involvement gives meaning or value to the experience." His book lays out the psychological principles that lead to customer engagement and compelling customer experience. It also illustrates the business practices companies are using to put these principles into action.

Bill Flitter, VP of Marketing at Pheedo states, "This book connects the pieces you need to know about engaging customers in an era when they are in control. Keep a notepad by your side. This book will inspire great ideas on how you can engage your customers during the buying experience."

David Curran, CEO of Data Communiqué International, had this reaction to the book, "Addicted Customers led me to water ... and it made me drink. John Todor uses clear and persuasive writing to really cut through the cookie cutter business writing 'how to' clutter and captures the essences of building true customer relationships. I think it should be on everyone's 'must read' list.

"John Todor has taken complicated psychological concepts and made them easy to understand. Then he shows you how to take advantage of this new knowledge for the benefit of both your company and your customers." -- Joe Beaulaurier, Interactive Marketing Manger, PRWeb.com.

Addicted Customers is a 248 page hardcover book. It is now available at www.AddictedCustomers.com or www.Amazon.com. A related and free enewsletter "Hooked: The Psychology of the Customer Experience" is available at www.thewhetstoneedge.com/newslettersubscription.php.

John I. Todor, Ph.D. is the Managing Partner of The Whetstone Edge, LLC, a customer experience consulting and training firm that applies scholarly research on human behavior to buyer-seller dynamics including customer loyalty, trust, retention, customer service, CRM--customer relationship management, and marketing strategy. Customer care, acquisition, and client relationships are profoundly affected by the underlying psychological principles that lead to customer satisfaction, trust, loyalty, and long term, high lifetime value. He speaks and consults worldwide on these topics.