So we’ve been recently doing a Skillshare course with Seth Godin about marketing… And it’s been interesting to kind of see this business in a different way.
In general, I think we provide pretty good customer service. I will be the first to say sometimes I drop the ball but it’s relatively infrequent and I always try to do something to make up for it (like update a client’s software or design them a new Facebook cover), sometimes telling them but often times not. (Full disclosure: I do that extra something nice mostly for myself, so I feel like if it wasn’t a job as well done as it could have been, I’ve somehow made up for it.)
Not sure how to say it in Chinese but it means ‘good bone water’, which is delightful in and of itself.
I’ve been really thinking a lot about surprising and delighting customers, which Seth Godin urges us to do in this course. Here’s something that comes to mind:
I’ve been getting acupuncture to help with my arm issues. After my last session, Lea (my therapist? pricker? puncturist? not sure what to call her?) gave me some ‘Good Bone Water’, basically like a natural BenGay.
I brought it home and the requisite I-am-a-12-year-old-boy style jokes ensued between Derrick and I…
Until I realized that two nights in a row, Derrick asked me to put the good bone water on his shoulder and I had been waking up with more relaxed arms after rubbing it on my arms the last couple nights. “I should buy more of this stuff.” I thought. Gosh, that acupuncturist is clever getting me dependent on this stuff…
I got the box out of the garbage to see how much my new habit was going to cost me.
$10.
Really?
That’s it?
With a $10 gift, she surprised and delighted me… even though I’ve probably spent over $500 with her at this point, I (and now Derrick) was psyched about the bone water which I never would have tried otherwise.
So I’m searching for other stories of times people have been surprised and delighted by a company. Please share yours! I am hoping to get some inspiration so we can think of new ways to surprise and delight our customers.
P.S. I will say also here how a few customers have surprised and delighted me: by including a thank you note with their mailed in payment. I can count the number of times it has happened on one hand and, while I didn’t get into this work to get praise, it warms my heart to get them and I’ve kept every single one.