24 | Exceptional Customer Experiences

Adventures in Businessing: Entrepreneurship, Small Business, and a Healthy Dose of Humor

Introduction Well, it was bound to happen sooner or later. Rob is not on this episode of AIB. Through some misalignment of the stars, Jeremy is actually present, however, and so the show must go on. Rob’s absence must have flustered the group, because they skipped the witty banter about what happened in their week that usually opens an episode. I guess you’ll have to just skip to the next section and miss my snarky remarks about their introduction. The Show Today our hosts discuss what it takes to create wow experiences for customers. Maybe they should have started with something like, “How to create wow experiences for podcast listeners,” because they definitely haven’t figured that one out yet. Without Rob’s dulcet tones elucidating the audience with a story, James, Jeremy, and Kevin get the point rather quickly. I don’t know how to feel about the lack of Rob-story. The thought that I actually missed them on this episode makes me think that I’m suffering from some kind of Stockholm syndrome. If you’re out there, reading this, send help. Regardless of the business that you’re running, the hosts suggest, you can create positive experiences for your customers that can help them become rabid fans. They point to examples like Google and Apple, who tend to put time into the little things, like the product packaging, as well as the product itself. Jeremy relates a story, although not as well as Rob would have, about how Delta picked him up in a Porsche to help him make his connecting flight. That felt more like a humble brag than advice for how to create raving fans. Kevin suggests that the most remarkable customer service experiences he’s had are when businesses pay attention to the small details. TL:DR - Thoughtfulness is all it takes to create wow moments for your customers. Make use of small opportunities, especially those opportunities that aren’t very costly, like sending a handwritten note. Our Recommendations Last time, Kevin recommended a website to learn development called CodeCademy.com. Today he follows up that with a recommendation for another learning resource called Udemy.com. We get it. You want people to learn development. Sheesh. Can you come up with something original already? Do you believe in magic? Because James does. He clarifies that he doesn’t believe in voodoo magic, or spells, but sleight of hand and various mundane tricks. As he’s gotten back into learning new sleight of hand techniques and card tricks, James has realised that he can apply things to his businesses. For example, magicians don’t use the word distraction. Instead, they talk about attention management. I want to make fun of James for all this, but it kind of takes care of itself. Jeremy likes to have lots of cars at once. He especially likes new cars, and his recommendation is for a subscription that lets him get new cars more often. Volvo recently rolled out a program that allows you to lease a car for one to two years. The payment includes insurance, and you can trade the car in for a new one at the end of the term; think of it like a cell phone plan for cars.