Interestingly, both science and economy know and use the concept of customer enthusiasm, but in part with very different content. service providers understand customer enthusiasm as a
positive emotion. Customer enthusiasm can be based on outstanding service in itself (customer enthusiasm as service enthusiasm), excellent interaction (Customer enthusiasm as
interaction enthusiasm) or exceptional design of a product (customer enthusiasm as product enthusiasm). Just think about new editions f the iPhone.
In addition to these manifestations of customer enthusiasm as emotion, a different understanding of customer enthusiasm can be extracted from various statements of companies and in
literature. An Example: Think of the fans of a soccer club such as FC Bayern München. Their enthusiasm towards their own team certainly counts as customer or fan enthusiasm as an
emotion. Whether playing or after the season ends, fans are usually equally enthusiastic about their team. The object of enthusiasm in this case, however, is not the individual
performance of the team, but the club as a whole in itself. As a result, there is enthusiasm for the association and thusly a kind of a brand enthusiasm.
Brand enthusiasm achieves a quite stable positive attitude among customers towards a company, which in turn turns into emotional Enthusiasm and over time solidifies into brand
enthusiasm. This form of customer enthusiasm is highly interesting for companies, since the emotions of customer enthusiasm are stabilized. Thus, brand enthusiasm is more sustainable in
terms of customer behavior, than through short-lived (although intensively) experienced customer enthusiasm.
Finally, enthusiasm can also be a personality trait. Some people are generally more enthusiastic than others, or differ in their enthusiasm. Some people are easier to enthuse for
certain objects or actions than others, in the sense that not every customer will be equally enthusiastic of a service, product, an interaction or about technology.
A key question facing companies today, is about the drivers of customer enthusiasm. Which are the triggering factors, that are most important to the experience of enthusiasm among
customers. As the perception of enthusiasm depends on many different factors it seems difficult to summarize the most important drivers for enthusiasm in a simple basic statement.
Mostly it depends on the situation a customer is experiencing, also previous experiences with a product or service, the industry in general and the image of the Company itself. For
example, prestige, status and exclusivity are key drivers of enthusiasm with luxury products and services. However, a number of scientific studies identify central drivers of customer enthusiasm
in the B2C environment. In all studies, employees and their commitment and behavior are one, if not the central, source of customer enthusiasm. Customers who are asked about customer motivation
often tell stories about friendly and helpful employees, who have a particular interest in the wishes, needs and problems of the customer. In addition, customers mostly value employees who
go above the standard level, especially for their customers ("to go the extra mile"). Customers should perceive a feeling of personal recognition and appreciation. In general, it‘s
important to feel enthusiasm over a perceived personalized performance. This does not only relate to interpersonal contact, but can also take place through social media. In addition,
customers are enthusiastic about employees that have enough time to be able to provide appropriate advice and assistance in a situational and customer-specific manner. Another driver
is the offer of an unexpected value. This may be the case in the case of a previously unknown product or service which satisfies customer expectations better than the originally intended
product or service. For example, in a travel agency the reference to an unknown or not selected hotel, which meets the requirements of the customers better than originally considered
hotels. Finally, a lower price can also be a trigger of customer enthusiasm. Often a critical situation offers a great opportunity to trigger particularly intense enthusiasm among
customers. Professional complaint management, resolving a problem quickly, efficiently and effectively, provides additional enthusiasm.
If however employees violate the company's official rules, guidelines and standards, in order to create enthusiasm the situation can become a problem. Knowledge of this approach
should be the occasion to discuss the meaning and necessity of guidelines and standards set forth by a company. On the one hand, this could be an indication that the employees should be
given more leeway for maneuvering- on the other hand, it should also increase employees awareness of the importance of adhering to certain directives when, for example, they are concerned with
aspects of security and legal requirements. A while ago, I had a longer discussion with aquality manager of the call center subsidiary of a large German bank. During a workshop with
their agents, focusing on methods and behaviors that trigger customer enthusiasm, it turned out that often internal policies were infringed upon, without the employees actually being aware of the
particular problem of their behavior. As a consequence, neither the general conclusion should be drawn that employees may never, or always, violate directives. The problem should
rather present an occasion to consider in which areas of work, in some cases exceptions to the standard processes are possible in order to inspire customers, and in which areas of tasks, such as
compliance with legal requirements, individual deviations are not acceptable.
In addition to general drivers of customer enthusiasm, there are still other triggers that are specific to a sector and the company. A study by Arnold (2006) added additional drivers
specifically for the retail trade. These include the convenience with which purchases can be made and the unobtrusive presence of a sales rep in the store- in a sense that no sales pressure is
exerted on the customer; while always being available to the customer at his request. This certainly applies to other services, such as gastronomy.
Finally, it is highly interesting to compare the views of customer managers with the opinions of customers in the sense of self-image matching. In the course of a study, 197 customer
managers from various industries were interviewed. It turned out that the customer managers basically named the same drivers as did the customers. A manager's opinion however, differs from
the customer assessment regarding the relevance of the enthusiasm drivers. For example, managers most often named „the unexpected“ as a relevant driver, while employees' attitudes and
behavior have been most frequently indicated by customers.