Customers must live and function in a context that is so fast-paced and fast-changing that it is straining their ability to cope. A shortage of time is a major concern for most people. There are too many things to do, and so much to accomplish but there is still only twenty-four hours in a day. But its not just time. There is the uncertainty and complexity introduced constantly by innovation, which also adds to stress levels.
  
   Chronic stress has been defined as the expression of “problems and issues that are … so regular in the enactment of daily roles and activities … that they behave as if they are continuous for the individual.” Stressors include “excessive task or role demands…excessive complexity, uncertainty, conflict, restriction of choice, or under reward” (Kaplan). This kind of stress not only interferes with peoples’ ability to get things done, it can threaten an individual’s sense of personal identity.
  
   Daniel Goleman, author of “Emotional Intelligence” argues, “the rhythm and pace of modern life give us too little time to assimilate, reflect and react. Our bodies are geared to a slower rhythm. We need time to be introspective, but we don’t get it - or we don’t take it. Emotions have their own agenda and timetable, but our rushed lives give them no space, no airtime. And so they go underground. All of this mental pressure crowds out a quieter inner voice that offers an inner rudder of conviction we could use to navigate through life.”
  
   One common coping mechanism for customers to escape from the pressures of today’s fast-paced, fast-changing marketplace is to become less psychologically involved. They become indifferent to more and more situations. This creates a serious problem for businesses that want to reach them. They don’t respond or they don’t respond in expected ways. Very often they don’t seem to make decisions in a way that serves their own self-interest. While this strategy will help deal with stress in a particular instance, when it becomes a behavioral pattern, it compromises the individual’s ability to adapt.
  
   Indifference is having an impact at two levels. First, it creates a barrier between buyers and sellers. Second, the reduction in ‘psychological presence’ or engagement interferes with critical psychological processes that underlie self-esteem and the ability to be happy.
 
   Paradoxically, it seems, more and more people are seeking ways to step off this treadmill, to recapture the thrill of ‘getting involved’. You could question the enormous appeal of Martha Stewart in an age when everyone is extremely busy. She is promoting time-consuming tasks that take people back to a simpler time. Why do we want to know how to make a wreath when we can buy one and save time? Obviously, it satisfies a powerful emotional need. (Gobe) What will people pay for a gratifying experience that gets them involved? There are people who pay more than one hundred thousand dollars for the opportunity to get their hands and feet dirty as they become involved in the complete process of making their own wine.
  
   The first challenge in getting customers hooked on your company lies in understanding how customers have been pushed out of their psychological comfort zone and how this affects buying patterns.
  
   This is an excerpt from Chapter Two of my forthcoming book Addicted Customers: How to Get Them Hooked On Your Company. For more information on the book go to www.AddictedCustomers.com

Posted by John Todor on Wednesday, July 12th, 2006 at 3:04 pm.