Just in case you didn’t know, I have a weekly customer service and CX podcast, Amazing Business Radio, that has been running for 12 years. Each week, I get the honor of interviewing some very smart people. Recently, I met Eric Stone, author of Jumpstart Your Workplace Culture. One of the topics we discussed was the WOW experience.
Before we go further, I have always had concerns about organizations that attempt to WOW their customers at every interaction. It’s just impossible to do. The concept of WOW is often associated with going above and beyond what’s expected, so much so that the customer is “blown away” by the experience. The problem is that’s not always possible. That’s why I took it out of my vocabulary and started using the word amazing to describe what I think WOW really is all about, which is a consistent and predictable experience that ALWAYS meets, and only occasionally exceeds, the customer’s expectations. It’s easy to say, “The people at that company are amazing.” It’s a little clunky and awkward to say, “The people at that company are WOW.”
That’s why I loved what Stone said: “Wow is a surprise.” In other words, it’s not about every experience. It’s about the occasional opportunity to surprise a customer. It could be something big, such as handling an emergency situation in which employees go above and beyond. As I said earlier, you can’t count on that type of opportunity for every transaction, but what you can do is find little ways to surprise your customers. For example, if you return a call quickly, the customer might say, “Wow, that was fast!” That’s not an over-the-top or above-and-beyond experience, but it’s a small surprise.
With that in mind, let’s use the return phone call as an example. When you know people are often surprised and make comments like, “Wow, that was fast,” simply because you called them back quickly, don’t just say, “Thank you,” and feel good about the experience. Instead, operationalize the experience. In other words, make quickly returned calls part of your official process. Set a standard, such as all calls are to be returned within two hours (or whatever the appropriate length of time you feel is right for you).
With that as an example, what other interactions do you have with customers that need to be formally operationalized? Here are a few ideas to get your creative juices flowing:
- All phone calls are to be answered within three rings.
- A promise to only transfer a customer once, knowing you’ll get the customer to the right person the first time.
- Proactive updates to inform customers before they reach out to you asking for information.
- Following up after a resolution to make sure a customer is still happy.
- Acknowledging customer milestones, such as congratulating them on their 10th order with you, their birthday, etc.
None of these ideas are above-and-beyond types of WOW experiences, but they will cause a customer to notice. Use these examples to help you get creative about finding other simple or small WOWs you can operationalize and make part of the customer’s regular experience when they do business with you.
