What Makes Customers Happy?

In my last post, I considered that the majority of user experience design stems from addressing known deficiencies in service experiences, reducing pain rather than increasing pleasure, and fumbled a bit when it came to the precipitating question of "what makes customers happy?"   It's been much on my mind since, and I've scratched that mental itch by doing some informal research.


Methodology

I spent some time surfing customer reviews of various products (goods and services) on a number of different sites where reviews were posted, sorted by "top rating" to view only the remarks of the most delighted customers, and analyzed a total of 500 reviews.

For each positive review, I asked the question "Why is this person happy?" and attempted to distill it into a simple statement, such as "I am happy because the product delivered the expected results."   If the reviewer mentioned multiple reasons, I went with the factor on which they spent the most time or used the most emphatic language.

All of this is very unscientific, so I'm not reporting numbers (what percent or how many) - I wanted to get a general feel for customer happiness, and more comprehensive of focused research (or even a different random sample) might come up with different items in a different order ... so this would be more in the nature of a preliminary study (food for thought, and deeper investigation before taking action) than a comprehensive and scientific research effort.


Top Four Results

These four results happened far more frequently among my random sample than the others.

I am happy because of an inessential feature or quality.  

The most common source of customer happiness stemmed from some feature or quality of the service outside of the set required to deliver the core benefit of the product.   For example, one person posted a five-star review of an automobile and his review raved about the sound system (a nice feature, but one that has nothing to do with the core benefit of having a car).

I suspect this came out on top for two reasons: first, it was a random sample and the numbers were very close, so it could be the result of my methodology.   Second, me general sense is that people who write reviews seek to speak of something original.  "The car runs and is mechanically sound" is taken for granted and not commented upon, even though meeting those expectations is likely more influential.

I am happy because the product or service solved my need.  

Another common cause of happiness, neck-and-neck with the inessential features and qualities, is that the product satisfied the need for which it is purchased.   My sense is this is the litmus test for customer satisfaction but, again, is something that people take for granted.

It's also worth mentioning that "the product worked as expected" is also reflected in many of the comments that offered multiple reasons.  That is, a comment would mention in passing that the product works like a charm, but the reviewer spent most of their time talking about other things and gave core functionality only passing mention.  Again, it's very important for a product to do what it's supposed to do, but reviewers don't seem to think that requires much exposition because it's taken for granted.

I am happy because of the price.  

The price of the good or service also figured into a large number of reviews, though it evidenced itself in two different ways:   the product was considered to be a deal or a bargain because its price was less than expected, or the product was considered to be a value because it cost more than expected but the customer feels the benefits it delivered merited the extra expense.

While I wish to avoid numerical analysis because of the randomness of this pseudo-study, it is worth remarking that while the first two factors were neck-and-neck, there was a somewhat larger gap between the second factor an this one.

I am happy because the product was easier than expected to get or use.  

It might be improper to lump "easy to get" and "easy to use" into the same category, but this reflects the nature of the remarks I read.   Ease was definitely the focus of the reviewer's comments, but they then mentioned both the experience of acquisition and experience of use in support of their claim, making it difficult to untangle the two.


Other Significant Results

I also consider these results significant - there was an appreciable gap between the top-four factors and these, and another appreciable gap between these factors and the data points listed below.

• Comparative Satisfaction. Reviewers did not speak of the product in itself, but merely ticked off comparison points in which the product in question was better than others they had experienced.
   
• Unexpected Surprise. Reviewers were delighted by something unexpected that they received or experienced, and the comments conveyed a sense of pleasure at the service than the surprise itself - i.e., the thing is not important, but the fact the service provide thought to offer it was delightful.
   
• It was quick and/or easy. A number of reviews commented primarily on an element of the service experience (shopping, purchasing, using, after-sales support, etc.) being simple to do or requiring little investment of time on their part.
   
• Proactive Service.  Several reviewers fixated on the quality of service alone, and particularly the way that staff did things without being asked or anticipated the reviewer's needs.
   
• Friendly and/or Accommodating Service.  Friendliness was the focus of a number of reviews, particularly of products that were more in the nature of a service than a good.  That is, the reviewer said little to nothing about the service, but a great deal about the pleasantness of their social interaction with staff.
   
• Unobsequious Service.  A number of reviewers were delighted because they didn't notice the person providing the service, or that the service person did not intrude upon their enjoyment of the experience.

Notable Data Points

There was another significant gap between the "other significant results" and the following set.   This list includes everything that received three or more comments, so I won't go into detail.

• Service providers responded to my unique/individual needs.
• Other people (friends and colleagues) thought well of me for choosing a given product/service
• The service provider was prompt in answering questions and responding to issues
• The service provider did what I asked and nothing more (no unwanted extras or suggestive selling attempts)
• Service providers treated me with respect or deference
• Service providers demonstrated good manners (etiquette)
• Service providers were knowledgeable
• I feel like a better person (sophisticated and intelligent) just for owning/using the product
• The service environment was clean, comfortable, and visually appealing
• I felt physically attracted to the person who served me
• The firm followed up after the sale to ensure satisfaction
• The service provider maintained a cheerful attitude under adverse circumstances

Suggestions for Further Research

These results derive from a casual study that used a random sampling of reviews found on various Web sites and a superficial interpretation (a more or less "gut feel" assessment over which factor each reviewer place the greatest emphasis upon).    My sense is that this is sufficient to get a general idea of the things that make customers happy, but insufficient as a basis for action for any specific product or market segment.

As such, it would be worthwhile (even necessary) to conduct similar research that is limited to a specific product or market segment and, at the same time, broader in its scope and more meticulous in its analysis.

Even at that, the results are likely to be imperfect, in that the study necessary limits itself to the kind of customer who posts online reviews (who may not be representative of the full customer base, many of whom do not post reviews) and can analyze only what is said (there may be other factors that people consider to be important but do not mention when writing reviews).