To delight or not to delight? That is the question.

I have been reflecting on why despite average or even mediocre services and experiences some brands offer, they are still around? Surely you would think that there is some correlation between poor customer service and customer attrition. But many brands continue to beat the odds!

I came up with the following reasons which may suggest how they get away with it:

Strategic location (F&B in particular):?

• If your business is located in a high traffic area and offers basic products and services that people need, they will generally have an expectation that is more fundamental rather than high and sometimes accept a standard of service that may be subpar to them. The obvious example that comes to mind is a typical Brasserie in a very busy area of Paris, France. If you manage to get a nice table outside, enjoying the sun, watching the crowd and about to order your “expresso” or “un demi” while waiting for your friend, you will ignore how rude and unwelcoming the waiter is as you already have all the elements of value you are looking for (mainly location and predictable products you are after at a good price). Those brands know this and have simply no incentive to invest in anything more.

Forced buyer situation

• Many brands will take advantage of such a situation and know that the level of service will not impact the need for someone to buy their products. How many times have I been caught under a storm without an umbrella, finding myself stepping into the closest convenience store, receiving a soulless service, no welcome, no smile, and sometimes waiting five minutes for the staff to finish doing his / her own thing before serving the customer. However, eventually I will be patient, swallow it and simply buy what I am after. If I was caught in the same situation close to this store again the following week, I would still buy it from them in my limited circumstances and accept the presumed undelightful service.

Limited (or no) competition

• If a brand operates in a market with limited competition, customers may have no other options, making them more likely to tolerate poor service. If you happen to live in a remote area in the middle of the outback down under, there is one petrol station every 200 km, you will just accept whatever service you receive there and fill your tank, however undelightful it might be.

Low prices

• If a brand offers very low prices, customers may be willing to put up with subpar service in exchange for the savings. This is self-explanatory and we have all been there. Take Ryanair in Europe for example. I would keep flying with them as they offer very low ticket prices despite their undelightful customer service. Ryanair charges additional fees for items such as printing boarding passes and checking bags. Furthermore, the plane seats are cramped and uncomfortable. Despite this, many people like me continue to choose Ryanair for their affordability, especially for short flights where comfort may not be as much of a priority. In this case, customers are willing to accept subpar customer service because they prioritise price over comfort and convenience.

To be fair, I started believing that those brands do have a point: what is the ROI investing in going beyond what we currently do, in exceeding customers’ expectations?

On top of this, I also acknowledge that cultural norms can also play an important role, and I started to question whether I was biased in some ways. In some cultures, service may not be as highly valued or prioritised, hence customers may be more accepting of poor service.

American culture for instance values efficiency, speed, and convenience. This has led to the rise of fast food chains, online retailers, and other businesses that prioritise speed and convenience over personalised service. As a result, many consumers in the United States may be willing to overlook poor customer service if they can get what they need quickly and easily.

On the other hand, in India, there is a strong emphasis on building personal relationships and connections. As a result, many businesses prioritise building relationships with customers over providing speedy or efficient service. This can lead to customers being more forgiving of slower or less efficient service.

So who is right, who is wrong? No right or wrong - understanding the cultural context in which a business operates is a key factor in determining how it should approach customer service.

Culture is a source of bias as to how we perceive the world and the level of services we receive. A good example is even though I consider myself a global citizen, having traveled the world and lived outside of France most of my life, my French side often takes over when being faced with poor service: I feel the urge to start a revolution, to write my own version of “J’accuse” (Emile Zola), to denounce this action that causes outrage (“l’affront dont je suis la victime”)...ok you got the point ;)?

But despite all the above reasons, I will confidently continue to believe and to preach that investing in delighting customers will always pay off. This is a clear ROI indication.

It does not have to be costly and disruptive; it comes down to simple principles:

Personal touch.

Responsiveness.

Showing you care. A genuine interest in helping someone.

Many ways we can hack this and do more with less to delight customers.

The following quote sums it all up: “People will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but they will never forget how you made them feel.”

Brands need to go beyond delivering the basics, delivering functional elements of value that customers are expecting and focus on the more emotional elements of value, the life-changing ones or even higher purpose ones. For those of you who would like dive deeper, I invite you to have a look at Bain’s Elements of Value Pyramid - The Elements of Value | Bain & Company]

Let’s take the example of a cleaning company serving a hospital. The basic expectation is for them to clean the facility according to well defined functional standards right?

But if that company was to scratch beyond the surface, they would realise that everyday their army of staff come across lonely patients and that by simply encouraging their staff to engage systematically in small talks as they get on with their task, not only would they impact many patient lives, increase satisfaction for the hospital and help develop a sense of purpose in their staff (who happen to be delivering tedious repetitive tasks, which makes it harder for them to find real passion and purpose).

This change would significantly improve their value proposition, differentiate them from the many similar cleaning companies they are competing against, and make them an attractive place to work for, being recognised as a company with purpose helping them attract talent. I am sure you see the many benefits you can anticipate that would greatly outweigh the cost and effort in implementing this simple change.?

And there are many hidden pockets of value awaiting brands as to how they can delight their customers and create a bigger impact. You just need to do the work. Feel free to reach out if you need any help uncovering hidden value via value proposition design or business model innovation, I am always happy to help and have a good conversation.

In summary, creating delightful experiences for customers is critical for any brand looking to increase brand loyalty, make a bigger impact and as a result, drive revenue. By understanding customers, implementing targeted changes to improve the experience, creating emotional connections, and continuously iterating, any brand can start delighting their customers and reap the rewards of a loyal customer base.

You just have to take the first step. So how will you start delighting your customers?