The other day I opened my letterbox and there was purple envelope with my address handwritten on it! Must be fan mail, I thought. Ok maybe not, I don’t really get a lot of fan mail, but surely it has to be something fun, maybe an invitation to a wedding, a concert or a friend’s birthday celebration?
Excitedly I ripped open the envelope. It was a thank you card from my car mechanic who also happens to be a student in our marketing program The Clever Bunch. I was so pleased to see he didn’t have a window seat in the course and was implementing the ‘how to blow your customers’ mind’ module.
My happiness to see someone doing something fabulous in their businesses outweighed my disappointment to not have received any fan mail.
Sending a customer a card seems like a trivial act, right? But that random act of kindness (or kind act of randomness as I like to call them) is certainly going to make me want to not only stay loyal, but also tell all my friends about it.
It’s so easy to delight our customers at different touch points, but often we simply forget, we don’t have a system for it and we get too busy.
I’d love to share an epic framework with you we use in our businesses to think about all the different ways we can positively surprise a customer. In fact, you can even use this for friends, partners or any human really. Let’s get delighting!
The Customer Wow Model
Here is how it works.
1. First, write down all the touch points you have with your customers. This could include emails, the delivery of your product or service, your offices or shop, phone calls, advertisements, invoices, proposals, meetings etc.
2. Next, brainstorm ideas on how you can enhance each of these touch points or interactions. This is an amazing opportunity to boost your brand’s image.
For example if you want your brand to be perceived as quirky, then add a little bit of quirkiness to various touch points. Maybe you insert a funny quote in your email signature or onto your invoices. If you want to be seen as innovative, find ways to add a touch of innovation to everything you do.
3. Now pick two or three from your list above and get busy implementing! Rather than choosing all of the items at once focus on improving one touch point at a time. Never-ending continuous improvement until eternity or beyond.
At one of our companies Oceanlovers.com we specialise in sustainable products inspired by the ocean. One of our touch points is the delivery of our stunning surf suits made from recycled fabrics. To delight our customers the moment they receive their swim suit, we’ve created the coolest clothing tags. They are small pouches with a little decompostable trash bag inside encouraging people to pick up a piece of rubbish when going to the beach. It may cost a little extra to produce them, but the positive comments and more importantly the ripple effects this is having on people all coming together to keep our beaches clean, is mind-blowing!
At another company, BasicBananas.com we send our new members a welcome pack with all sorts of fun gadgets relating to being an entrepreneur thriving for an amazing lifestyle, including sunglasses, beach towels, quirky note pads etc.
Remember, to be talked about you have to become ‘talkaboutable’ and this will help you do exactly that. Delight your customers! Oh and if you would like to delight me or send some fan mail, my address is: PO BOX 502, Narrabeen NSW 2101, Australia. Chocolates, red wine and airplane tickets (I’m not fussy, I’ll go everywhere) are all welcome. Thank you!