Nobody Raves About Average

Have you ever noticed that people talk about their experiences with brands in two very different ways?

If the customer experience was awful they talk in mainly negative adjectives. However if the customer experience was outstanding, they rave about it.

Nobody really mentions average. It's one or the other, and I can imagine which end of the scale you and your business would want ... no need... to be. 

There are so many online opportunities for people to be negative or rave about your business or product, or rate it: social media, TripAdvisor, amazon ... the list goes on.

Bad customer service can jeopardise a company's reputation. 

Businesses today cannot afford this. Competition for customers is strong so you need your customers - ambassadors for your brand - to rave about your customer service. So you need to create customer delight (the ultimate goal) every time. 

For example, I have been back to a few hotels and B&Bs along my travels that I rave about (usually on TripAdvisor because I believe in feedback), because every time I stay, the customer experience does not diminish. It is usually the small touches that make me say good stuff about a place. But most importantly it is a great all-round experience and being valued as a customer. After all I could have gone somewhere else. And staff and companies go the extra mile.

Examples include: dessert treat time in a hotel because the hotel recognised that I could have chosen any number of other hotels to stay at and wanted to thank me, using my name on arrival and throughout my stay, upgrading me because this was the third time I had returned, extending my check out because my flight was much later on, presenting me with my packages on arrival (when u used to travel for work and sent packs on ahead) and leaving further packages in my room during my stay without me having to ask for them, being positive and helpful with all my questions and suggesting alternatives and options, giving me a quiet room because the member of staff could see I was a business traveller, organising last minute breakfast refreshments for a group gathering without any issues, offering to call a taxi rather than me going outside to flag one down. 

I also believe this is important in life….going the extra mile and not being average. Average does not get you noticed at work. Average does not make the accomplishments worthwhile. Average in work ethic does not get you that top job or help you succeed. More about thus next week.

It is the little things that help a great review - both of you and your brand and a business - because nobody raves about average and your business needs to do better than average to beat the competition and create customer loyalty and ultimately growth.