No matter what industry or role you work in, we all want to delight our customers – and be delighted in return when we’re buying products and services.

Delighting your customer seems like a challenge, and it’s surprising how many organisations fail to even satisfy their customers! So what are we doing wrong and how can we improve?

Below is an infographic based on the Kano model. It describes customer needs in three categories – dissatisfiers, satisfiers and delighters.

Dissatisfiers are the absolute basics that customers wouldn’t even request because they couldn’t imagine your product or service wouldn’t deliver it. Imagine buying a car, only to find the engine bay was empty, or going out for dinner and finding the restaurant didn’t provide plates. You won’t rave about the place if they do provide those things, but you’ll be very dissatisfied if they don’t. In addition – as you can see from the Kano model below – there is a limit to your satisfaction: You won’t be any more satisfied if your car had two engines or your place setting at the gastro pub had two plates – so investing in those extras is an unnecessary expense for the organisation.

Satisfiers, on the other hand, are needs where improvement in functionality will always increase customer satisfaction. Think about the miles per gallon of your car: You’d be pleased if they increased it from 30 to 40mpg, but you’d be even more pleased if they increased it to 70mpg. Or if you were buying a computer – the faster it is and the bigger the memory, the better. These elements are things that organisations should always be looking to improve, as there will always be a payoff.

Delighters are just going that one step extra. It’s providing something that customers haven’t asked for, and may not even have been able to articulate, that makes the service better. So with our car example, it’s like providing a year’s insurance and a full tank of fuel at no extra cost. When eating in a restaurant, it’s like being given a complimentary bottle of champagne if the server learns that it’s a celebration.

But be warned, investing in delighters without ensuring the dissatisfiers and satisfiers are addressed will not increase satisfaction – and it could actually make the discontent worse!

Take a look at our infographic below to see this in action.

Enjoyed this infographic? You’ll love our recent article on customer satisfaction – you can find it here.

If you want to find out more about how you can use Kano and other customer-focused tools to improve satisfaction, get in touch on 0800 066 3749 or by clicking the button below.