Here we are at the sixth and final step common to any customer experience. Earlier, we covered the triggering need, earning consideration, demonstrating how you solve the problem, affirming your customers decision, and delivering on your promise. Today we’re talking about anticipating your customers’ needs as they evolve. “Evolve” truck art photo by anarchosyn

The EVOLVE step from your customer’s point of view

As your customers realize their problem has been solved (or not solved, as the case may be), their role at this step becomes less of a task and more of a compulsion. Now, they have an opinion about whether or not their need was met by your product or service – and how well. They will likely sound off about it to family and friends, to coworkers, to the media, to total strangers. Maybe even to you.

Some will use words to share what they think.  Many more will share how they feel through actions. (Quick: do your customers speak or act to demonstrate how well you have helped them solve a need?) One way or another your customers are sharing how they feel about the experience that started with the problem, need or desire they set out to solve – much the same as we get home from vacation and share if we solved our need for relaxation or adventure.

At this step, your business – like every business on Earth – has vocal advocates and equally vocal detractors. They are either with you or against you.

And consciously or subconsciously, they start to move on. Once your customers’ need or problem is solved (or not solved), they will develop a new need. Forever changed by what has happened and how they have felt throughout this experience, they – and their needs – evolve. At this step your customer is:

Sharing or revealing how a need was solved, while undergoing change or growth toward the next need or desire.

For your customers, this step begins once they believe the problem has been solved, or once they determine it won’t be solved at all. The step ends for them when they’ve moved on, and find themselves back at the TRIGGERING NEED step of the experience wheel.

Some customers evolve to realize the same need again. Think buying groceries to solve feeding your family.  More often, their initial problem solved – adequately or excellently – customers move on by evolving to a next need. Think of the collaboration and communication needs in any hospital today, and imagine how moments after using a new electronic medical records system those needs begin to evolve.  In either case, once through this step, the customer experience wheels turns again.

From your organization’s point of view: You must ANTICIPATE your customers’ next need.

This step is all about anticipation. You have two things to prepare for:

1. How your customers will share or act out their ideas. You must create open, inviting channels for them to use, and effective ways to capture what they say and do.
2. How to solve your customer’ emerging needs. Will your customers have the same next need in the future? Will they evolve something similar but subtly different? Or will their next need take them farther afield, perhaps into territory that you don’t necessarily consider your core competency today?

You can aggregate your customers’ next needs to choose and measure future demand. Really.  The insights you gain as you anticipate customers’ evolved needs should inform your product and service development strategy, your approach to up-selling and cross-selling, and your long term plan for sustainability. Your goal here is:

To expect and capture a customer’s ideas; to look for the next emerging needs you can solve.

So the need for mutual self-interest goes both ways: You are either with them or against them, too.

Too many organizations abdicate this step. Sure, it’s common practice to ask customers if customers are satisfied, but too few measure if customers’ needs are solved.  Too many rely solely on solving the same need for growth, when spotting and solving evolving needs can yield substantial, additional growth.

The customer experience – and your organization’s experience in pursuit of reward for a problem solved well – comes full circle here. In fact, your act of solving your target problem well for your target customer may be in and of itself the trigger that sets off the customer’s next need. Are you prepared for that?

Related Resources

If you missed the first five installments of this series, catch up by reading:

Step 1: The Triggering Need
Step 2: Earning Consideration
Step 3: Demonstrating Your Solution
Step 4: Affirming Customers’ Decision
Step 5: Proving Your Promise

Looking for peer examples, customer experience mapping exercises and the business metrics to know if you’re on track at any step? Pick up a copy of Domino. You’ll find help in defining your customer experience, why proving you’ve delivered on your promise is important, and how it can help you drive better financial performance.