Companies renowned for customer service have mastered the ability to merge now with wow! And you can too It’s that simple.
Zappos, the online shoe and apparel company, not only allows you to shop 24/7 through their website, but they ship 24/7 to wow you with next-day delivery of many items. They delight in delighting. Do you?
Mercury Rising
In an e-world where customers “want it all and want it now,” it takes effort and ingenuity to wow customers. Speed of delivery is one such way to wow customers. Become the Queens and Kings of Customer Service through swift and stellar service!
A-N-T-I-C-I-P-A-T-I-O-N
Once a popular song title of Carly Simon’s, anticipation should occur on the server side, not the customer’s side. When you can anticipate a customer’s needs before the customer does, you can WOW them with thoughtful recommendations, cross-sells and upsells that serve additional and future needs of customers.
How WOW Works
Wows don’t occur any time you exceed expectations. They don’t automatically occur whenever you give your clients lagniappe — that little something extra they weren’t expecting. You’ve really got to take their breath away. How do you do it? Through lavishness and generosity? Through ingenuity?
The Super Bummer
Not all of the 105,000 holders of tickets for Super Bowl XLV actually got to attend the Super Bowl between the Pittsburgh Steelers and Green Bay Packers football teams on February 6, 2011 in Dallas, Texas.
Only 103,219 were admitted. Due to problems with unsafe temporary seats and other seats compromised by a buildup of snow, over 850 ticket-holders were left out in the cold, or otherwise seated or left standing in makeshift seats and viewing areas.
Fixing the Super Bowl!
NFL Commissioner Roger Goodall employed wow and now to placate angry customers. He immediately announced his intention to “make it right” through a generous offer whose perks included:
- Triple the face value of the original ticket.
- Free air fare and lodging at any future Super Bowl of their choice.
Goodall got out in front of criticism immediately by offering treble the costs of tickets plus travel and hotel accommodations to head off complaints. In a sense he overpaid to address peoples’ pain and suffering. The arrangements were so generous some attendees wished their seats had been compromised — so favorable were the concessions.
What seemed lavish actually paled in comparison to the cost to the NFL of negative publicity (and anticipated lawsuits) coming from attempts to set an attendance record and other decisions resulting in makeshift seating arrangements.
Lessons
- The longer you wait to acknowledge a customer service breakdown the harder it is to make it right.
- The more generous you are with those you’ve slighted the easier it is to win back their allegiance and trust.
- The general public is also watching and they appreciate the swiftness with which you fix problems and care your clients. Their confidence in you grows too. (It’s good Public Relations.)
When you merge NOW with WOW you win customers for life. Ready? NOW…WOW!
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