Consumers of technology are typically described as satisfied or unsatisfied. Happy or unhappy. But I believe it goes deeper than that.

Happy or unhappy alone are benign. But some of your customers are energetically happy — that is, happier than the average satisfied customer. And the happiest consumers will talk about their happiness. Online, offline, at dinner parties, to anyone who will listen. This is where the magic happens.

Others are passionately unhappy about your product. Not only did it not meet their needs, it somehow offended them. These people are angry, and they too will share their displeasure with others. Every company that sells to the public has some of these customers. But a critical mass of these folks can be death to your devices.

On the visual above, I’ve broken out the four kinds of technology consumers (moving counter-clockwise):

1. Pleased: You’ve met their needs, but no more. They’re satisfied, but not enthusiastically so. These customers rarely share their positive experiences with others.
2. Disgruntled: These users are quietly disappointed. Your electronics have not met their needs, but they’re not rushing out to share the news. Nor are they making plans to buy any more of your products.
3. Angry: The most dangerous kind. These users paid for your product, are unhappy, and take pleasure in telling everyone they know. Your product, or your support, has failed them repeatedly and /or dramatically.
4. Evangelist: The kind of users all consumer electronics companies would die for. Think Apple. They love your product, and the way it makes them feel. And they talk about it frequently. The word-of-mouth of a single evangelist can create hundreds of new customers as word moves throughout his immediate network and into the second and third degrees of separation. In our business, nothing is more powerful than a consumer evangelist. Everything you do should be geared towards developing more of them.