Moments of truth

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The English expression moments of truth (dt. " Moments of truth "), also moment of truth , in the sense of this article is used in marketing . He assumes that natural or legal persons are using on various occasions

come into contact. (For the sake of simplicity, only companies are mentioned below.) This encounter can either

  • directly (e.g. through a purchase , a consultation with a consultant, a telephone call, a mailing ) or
  • indirectly (e.g. through hearsay , via opinion portals and discussion forums on the Internet , a press report, a recommendation)

respectively. If the people form a positive or negative opinion about the company as a result of such an encounter, or if they change their previous opinion as a result of this encounter, the encounter is a moment of truth .

Behind the expression "Moments of truth" stands the philosophy that every encounter between a person and a company represents a test of the company for the favor of the person in order to start a customer relationship, to consolidate the existing customer relationship and in the best case to generate positive word of mouth .

Examples

Examples of moments of truth can be:

  • rough treatment of a patient by a medical assistant;
  • an understanding response from a customer service representative to a customer complaint;
  • a condescending comment from an instructor about a clumsy question from a student;
  • a complicated user guidance in a speech dialogue system .

Origin of the term

The expression "moments of truth" in the sense of this article goes back to Jan Carlzon , CEO (1981–1994) of the airline SAS Scandinavian Airlines . In 1982, Carlzon spoke in internal seminars that the SAS had 50,000 moments of truth every day. In 1987 the English translation of his book "Riv Pyramiderna!" (Literally: "Tear down the pyramids!") Appeared in the USA under the title "Moments of truth". Carlzon wrote: “Last year, each of our ten million customers came into contact with five SAS employees, and each of these contacts lasted an average of 15 seconds. The SAS is 'created' 50 million times a year, each time for 15 seconds. These 50 million 'moments of truth' are the moments that ultimately determine whether SAS succeeds or fails as a company. These are the moments when we have to prove to our customers that SAS is their best alternative. "

Effects

Moments of truth therefore have a significant influence on whether a company rises or falls in the favor of its market partners. Moments of truth decisively determine whether the market partners based on their experiences in these situations

  • turn (closer) to the company or the like,
  • remain loyal to the company or the like or
  • Turn away from the company or the like (further) (and possibly turn to another company).

Market - market partners - market constellations

Moments of truth only play a role where

  • Companies in each competition are and
  • their market partners can choose which company to lend their favor.

Market partners can be buyers / customers, but also providers / suppliers, financiers / owners (e.g. shareholders) and employees. Not to be forgotten are the public and the media, without whose long-term goodwill the continued existence of a company is called into question.

In which market direction (on the sales side or on the demand side) the moments of truth of a company are oriented depends on the market constellation:

  • If the providers compete for the customers' favor, the moments of truth can be found in the sales-side relationships ( customer relationship management ) of the providers. This is especially the case if the prices of providers and the quality of their "core products" (primary benefits) hardly differ and the vendors are appealing for the buyers by the quality of their services (secondary services) to differentiate .
  • If the customers compete for the favor of the supplier (e.g. in a sellers' market ), the moments of truth can be found in the customer's procurement-side relationships.

Definition of terms

The expression “moments of truth” is often translated in German as “ contact points ” (or “customer contact points”). However, this equation is inadmissible for several reasons:

  • Moments of truth are situations and not points of contact. These situations can occur at touchpoints (e.g. when surfing a company's website), but also elsewhere (e.g. when reading a test report in which manufacturer X's product performs worse than products from other manufacturers, which means the reader loses interest in manufacturer X's product).
  • Contact points are part of a company. Marketing theory therefore assumes that they can be “designed” by the company (usually by marketing) itself (e.g. the area of ​​“ corporate communication ” and its public relations work ). The moments of truth, on the other hand, also include situations that are (largely) beyond the control of the company and therefore cannot (or can hardly) be controlled by the company (e.g. reading critical media reports about the company).

However, it is undisputed that there are often close connections between moments of truth and contact points:

  • On the one hand, contact points can be identified based on moments of truth, e.g. B. by surveying customers,
    • on which occasions they had contact with the company,
    • what experiences ("experiences") they had and
    • how these experiences influenced their attitude towards the company.
  • On the other hand, moments of truth can be identified using contact points, e.g. For example, by observing customers what they experience at these touchpoints and then asking how these experiences have influenced their opinion of the company.

Evaluation

A systematic identification, analysis and evaluation of moments of truth can give a company indications as to where existing contact points should be improved or new contact points should be established. The motto should be:

People who come into contact with a company must perceive every moment of truth as pleasant, useful and uncomplicated, maybe even with a pleasant surprise.

Ultimately, the moments of truth determine the satisfaction and loyalty of the market partners. The moments of truth are the essential starting points for gaining new partners, for retaining existing partners and for winning back partners who have left . As a whole, they decide on the competitiveness , growth and continued existence of the company.

Notes and individual references

  1. ^ Jan Marco Leimeister (2012). Service engineering and management. Berlin et al .: Springer Gabler, ISBN 3-642-27982-1 .
  2. ↑ In 1998, the American Management Association (AMA) recognized Carlzon's publication in the 75th anniversary edition of their magazine as one of the most important developments in management in the 20th century.
  3. ↑ Jan Carlzon (1987), p. 3.

See also

literature

In chronological order:

  • Jan Carlzon: Everything for the customer. Jan Carlzon revolutionizes a company. Campus, Frankfurt am Main u. a. 1988, ISBN 3-593-33975-7 ; American: Moments of truth. Harper Perennial, New York (NY), 1987, ISBN 0-06-091580-3 .
  • Christian, Grönroos: Service management and marketing. Managing the moments of truth in service competition. Lexington Books, Lexington (Mass.) 1990, ISBN 0-669-20035-2 .
  • Laurence C. Harmon, Kathleen M. Harmon: Marketing residential properties. The science and the magic. Institute of Real Estate Management, Chicago (Ill.) 2008, ISBN 978-1-57203-131-9 .
  • Astrid Martini: Search, experience and trust in the "Moments of truth". An analysis of dynamic quality assessment in professional services using the example of educational services. Dissertation, Free University, Berlin 2008, without ISBN.
  • Kenneth E. Clow, Robert E. Stevens: Concise encyclopedia of professional services marketing. Routledge, New York (NY) 2009, ISBN 978-0-7890-3690-2 .
  • William J. Cusick: All customers are irrational. Understanding what they think, what they feel, and what keeps them coming back. American Management Association, New York (NY) 2009, ISBN 978-0-8144-1421-7 .
  • Herb Sorensen: Inside the mind of the shopper. The science of retailing. Wharton School Publishing, Upper Saddle River (NJ) 2009, ISBN 978-0-13-712685-9 .
  • Anne Schüller: The new moments of truth: WOM in contact point management . In Anne M. Schüller, T. Schwarz (Ed.): Guide WOM Marketing. Absolit, Waghäusel 2010, ISBN 978-3-00-030470-5 .
  • Anne Schüller: Customers on the run? How to win and keep loyal customers . Orell Füssli, Zurich 2010, ISBN 978-3-280-05382-9 .
  • Henry Dubroff, Susan J. Marks: Battling big box. How nimble niche companies can outmaneuver giant competitors. Career Press, Franklin Lakes (NJ) 2009, ISBN 978-1-60163-028-5 .