When you’re delighted, you’re at a high.
When you open a package and see something amazing in addition to what you ordered, that’s delight. When an author signs a book for you, that’s delight. When you get given a larger tip than expected, that’s delight.
If you’re in the business of delighting customers, then doing this over and over again works, but if you’re in the business of retaining customers, of creating brand loyalists then it pays to note that the feeling which delight ignites is temporary.
Going the extra mile doesn’t make the customers more loyal. What makes them loyal is you live up to the promise you’ve made.
An airline can buy pizza for all the passengers who are stuck in the plane on the tarmac and this will create a lot of delight, but it’s not creating loyalists. The promise made is the airline would get these people to where they needed to go on time, to their families, to their events, to their job interviews. Which is more important? Pizza or keeping a promise? (I know, tough choice, right?)
What about a situation where delight is so easy to do?
A record store puts on a by one get one deal for the weekend. That’s great from a delight standpoint, but not a loyalty one. When people expect crap products, crap service, it’s quite easy to delight.
Then what builds loyalty?
It’s not only keeping your promise; it’s keeping it in the easiest most sincere way possible.
What if Delta, instead of Pizza, owned up to their failed promise and spent money on a fleet of taxis that we’re ready to take every passenger exactly where they needed to go. What if they managed to get a police escort to ensure people got where they needed to go as quickly as possible. Pizza doesn’t help them fulfill their promise.
What if the record store didn’t advertise a buy one get one, but instead asked every customer about a close friend of theirs, what music they liked, and hand-picked a record for the current customer to give to them? It fulfills their promise to spread music, to care, to be knowledgeable.
As a marketer, when you want to put budget toward something special, ask yourself if you’re creating temporary delight or if you’re creating brand loyalty. They look a like, but with totally different results.
Stay Positive & Spend More Energy On Fulfilling Your Promise Easier
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