Treat the cause, not the symptom.

From mental and physical wellness to sociology and legislation, it’s a truism that’s earned its mettle. So why are so many well-intentioned companies responding to their customers’ issues at face value? There are real people behind each tweet, status update and blog post. Their expressions reveal passion and complex emotions. The grievances are just the symptoms and it’s the responsibility of the responder to address the cause.

After all, there is a lot riding on the brand response. Beyond immediate satisfaction and problem solving, there are greater, long-term benefits like loyalty and social-evangelism. Being there is great. Offering a fix is even better. But can the violation of trust that motivated the complaint really be repaired? That replacement part or adjusted bill simply stops the bleeding. It cures the symptom. But rebuilding trust requires more than that. Imagine the moments between the first spark of frustration, as emotions escalate, until the customer complains in public online. That’s the part that demands mending. That’s the cause that needs to be treated.

Flashpoint. Motivation. Communication. Response. Satisfaction. Trust.

These are the six steps to focus on, but we start in the middle with the customer’s communication. From that communication, we must decipher the first two. We may never know what the flashpoint was, but as long as we identify the motivation correctly, our response will have a greater chance of building back trust. The purpose of the flashpoint step is less about identifying it and more about recognizing its significance in the chain of events. In many cases, if we address the motivation in our response, the satisfaction of a fix is secondary. Often times, there is no reasonable fix, but we can rebuild trust by treating the cause.

Of course, treating the cause also means fixing what’s wrong with your product or service, but that’s another blog post.

Praise also has motivations that should be addressed with the same considerations.

Trust Betrayal

All consumer motivations start with one commonality; the customer’s trust has been betrayed. This happens when the perceived effort is higher than the perceived value and the trade becomes unbalanced. The moment the customer arrives at this conclusion is what I call the flashpoint. It’s the moment when the widget breaks, the software crashes or the service is slow. Unless it was delivered on the doorstep for free, an unbalance occurs and triggers an emotional response AKA the motivation.

Motivated to express dissatisfaction publicly.

Now we’re at the point of communication, looking back. Communipathology, if you will. What drove the customer to tweet in ALL CAPS, punctuated by a #FAIL? It wasn’t that the widget broke or the software crashed or the service was slow. It was how that flashpoint made them feel . Understanding how it made them feel is the key to identifying their motivation for expressing their discontent in a public forum.

So, how do we ID motivations? I have some ideas, but I’d love to hear your’s in the comments below.

So what went wrong? Why is it that consumers assume they’ll receive little or no customer service? Why is it that brands look at their customers as fickle demographics they can deceive for a quick sale? Both parties stand to gain by reconciling this relationship. But decade after decade, the problem gets worse and never better.

That’s where Trustworthy comes in. We’re here to repair these relationships, one by one.

Trustworthy knows that while the Internet is our utility truck, simply monitoring from the street isn’t enough anymore. We have to get out and respond, human to human.

As economies evolved from cavemen and hairdryers, something else was intrinsic to success and sustainability: Trust. Tribes had to trust that on trade expeditions, they wouldn’t be slaughtered by the other tribe for their goods. In a more modern analogy, you trust that your iPod will work when you get it home, and Apple trusts that you’ll pay your credit card bills. Without trust, the whole thing crumbles and we all go home without pizza.

It’s no surprise the first step in reconciliation and rebuilding trust, is communication. Dialogue. A two-way conversation initiated by willing parties. Trustworthy delivers this by responding to issues as a helpful, proactive mediator. The first conversation we’d like to have is with you, right here on this blog. In the days and weeks ahead, I and a few of my partners will try and spark some lively discussion here and in the comments. I hope you’ll participate. It’s the first step on the road to recovery!