Although the bulk of our effort usually focusses on the 3rd phase through the use of surveys and metrics like CSAT, NPS and the like, I'm curious if and how the customer sentiment is measured (and managed) during the 2nd phase which arguably when the most intense emotions and memories are created.
I see our experiences categorized into roughly 3 categories or phases:
- before - prior to buying or consuming a product or service there is the period where the potential customer discovers and orients themselves on it. From the provider's perspective this covers first the marketing and then sales cycles. It is during this phase that the customer expectations are generated
- during - is the period or moment where the product or service is actually acquired or consumed and experienced. The emotions and sentiments usually run highest in this phase and are when the core of the customer experience is created
- after - arguably the longest phase of the broader experience which in the case of a product represents its lifetime use or in the case of a (consumable) service becomes a memory. In either case the sentiment intensity or its emotive ability usualy fades over time.
