Kevin Stirtz’s Amazing Customer Service Rule #46:

To thrill your customers, do something positive and unexpected

We often hear that we need to “thrill” or “wow” our customers. And, intuitively we know this is a good thing because it increases the chances our customers will come back and tell others about us.

That begs the question of how to do it. Because people are different. We all have different tastes and preferences. What might “wow” one person could bore another to death.

But we’re all people. And we respond similarly to things that we like and that surprise us. We are more likely to remember them.

When you do something for a customer (or anyone) that is positive (something they like) and unexpected (they didn’t see it coming) then you carve that event in their memories. Because they like what you did, you create positive emotional content for the experience. And because it’s a surprise, the emotional content level is higher.

The more emotional content an event or experience has the more we will remember it. The more fun it was, the more we want to repeat it and share it with others.

Here are two examples of people who created a positive and unexpected experience for their customer. (Their employers are lucky to have them on staff.)

One is an employee of a car dealer. A customer came in wanting a replacement key chain. Apparently there was a problem with hers. The employee she spoke with discovered the dealer was out of stock. Rather than send the customer away empty handed, the employee reached into her purse and gave the customer hers, which was the same kind the customer wanted.

The customer was thrilled. It was a small gesture but unexpected and thoughtful. This customer was so thrilled she has repeated the story more than once.

The second example is a lady who sells tickets for concerts. One day she got a call from a woman who was buying tickets so she and her husband could see a band that was coming to town. The customer explained how this was her husband’s favorite band and he had always wanted to see them in concert. She was buying the tickets for his birthday. It was going to be a special event for him.

When the couple arrived at the concert venue they were given backstage passes to meet the band. In fact, not only did they meet the band, they went out with them after the concert for dinner and drinks.

To say this couple were thrilled would be a massive understatement. It was a night they would never forget.

And it all happened because the lady who entered her ticket order listened and cared. And then she went out of her way to create a positive and memorable experience for someone she had never met.

To be good at this you have to be creative. You have to think outside the norms of everyday life. The more you do it the better you’ll get. But most importantly, to do this well and consistently, you have to care about your customers. Then it’s easy. And your customers will love it.

Other articles you might like:

• Here’s how to “wow” your customers
• Build Your Brand by Showing Not Telling
• Make Your Customers Smile
• Amazing Customer Service Means Delivering a Positive and Memorable Experience
• You Won’t Get that on United Airlines…

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