The $0.50 Sweet Secret Weapon

SuperOffice did a survey and found that 81% of organizations cite Customer Experience as one of their top competitive differentiators.

Now I ask you, do 4 out of 5 of your interactions with businesses stand out in a positive way?

That’s what the leaders of those surveyed businesses think. They think your experience with their company stands out enough for you to remember and want to come back.

Seth Godin put it this way. Your customers are going to talk about 2-3 things at dinner tonight. Is their experience with your organization in their top 3?

Here’s an easy example. DoubleTree hotels have been welcoming guests with a warm chocolate chip cookie at check-in for over 30 years. If you’ve ever stayed at a DoubleTree you’ve probably been pleasantly surprised with a warm chocolate chip cookie.

The key here is that the room and the bed are table stakes. They have to be good enough. But in a competitive market where people often shop based on price, DoubleTree decided to do something different. They decided to make an impression at check-in to have their guest feel welcomed.

It’s rumored that the finance department has been trying to kill the program for nearly 30 years. That’s because on the ledger it comes in as an expense.

But how many articles have been written about the cookie? How may stories have been told? How many people have decided to return and give DoubleTree their business again? They’ve even shared the recipe so people can not only make them at home, but see that they don’t contain any artificial ingredients. What is that worth?

And this is where you can apply a hidden principle to your business. Finance is being logical and looking to cut expenses. But leadership at DoubleTree is being psychological.

The challenge of standing out, of standing apart, from all the other experiences your customers will have today, is best solved psychologically.

How do you make them feel?

Better yet, how does each and every one of your front line employees, those in direct contact with your customers, make them feel?

One more thing. What do you think the giving out of a warm cookie does for that person working the desk at the DoubleTree? At first it might seem like just one more thing to do. But consider the psychological effect of giving the guest a treat and making them happy. Do they smile? Do they say thank you? Are they just a little bit delighted? How does that make the desk person feel?

Creating and implementing novel ways to delight your customers can also benefit your team. Most of us like making people happy. Virtually all of us like positive feedback. The real genius of the cookie is that it accomplished this, too.

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Want some help in taking your customers’ experience to another level? Let’s talk.

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