So many companies spend so much energy focusing on how they can Wow! their customers. We even have a name for it – the Wow! factor.
What if the Wow! factor isn’t the ultimate level you can deliver for your customers?
What if there was another level that changed everything about how your customers viewed you?
In a world where many businesses wonder whether any kind of customer loyalty still exists, there is an untapped level of service that drives deeper satisfaction and trust among customers. Whether that trust turns into loyalty is ultimately their choice, but for a business owner, achieving satisfaction and trust is a powerful place to be.
I’ll get to that untapped level of service a little later, but for now, why is Wow! Factor service a problem?
Put bluntly, Wow! is a narcotic. It is surface-level and is usually attached to what we do for the customer, the actions we take.
Their judgement is shaped by how our actions make them feel. When our actions make them feel fantastic, they experience a Wow! moment. When they feel indifferent, the response is neutral. And when our actions disappoint, the result can be frustration, or even anger.
Sadly, feelings are fleeting, and the Wow! high is short-lived. As soon as your customers get that high, they’re looking for the next one and the actions needed to deliver that next Wow! high need to be more intense and more powerful.
Wow! is a narcotic, and it feeds a habit.
Of course, I am not saying that your team shouldn’t serve to delight the customer.
Given three levels of service shown in the model below, delighting the customer is the obvious choice. Delighting the customer is all about creating the Wow! factor experience. So Wow! is okay, but is it enough?
What if delighting the customer is no longer sufficient?
There is another level. When we move beyond delight and begin to defend the customer, protecting their right to the very best available, we enter a space of deeper realisation and understanding.
Simply looking at the model tells the story. Think about yourself as a customer, who will you assign most trust to – the business that delights you or the business that defends your right to be fully understood, with every fibre in their business being?
We all know the answer.
The truth is, most customers feel like many businesses defend their own interests AGAINST the customer.
So, what is the level above Wow!?
There is no more powerful driver of trust than to know that the other party really “gets you” and is willing to defend you!
There are two sounds humans can make that are the same in practically any language.
The first sound is Huh! That is the sound of “I don’t understand”, “I don’t know what to do”, “I don’t understand the problem”.
The second sound is Ahhh! That is the sound of deep realisation or release. It is the sound of being understood!
As customers, when we experience a level of service from a business that demonstrates a deep understanding of us and our situation, it is difficult not to let our guard down and let out an Ahhh!
The thing about being understood is that it lasts. Once we know someone truly understands us, we become connected in a way that is deeper than a simple feeling.
We form a core connection.
How do the Wow! factor and Ahhh! factor differ?
The Wow! factor is closely tied to action and responsiveness. It is expressed in the language of “what else can we do for you?”
The Ahhh! Factor is closely tied to showing deep interest. It is expressed in the language of “what does this mean for you?”
When we serve the customer at a level of meaning and impact rather than simple problem-solving, everything changes.
