Monthly Archives: June 2023

This June, I present each one of the Three Principles to Build Customer Loyalty. In this third week, here is Principle Three: Be Magnificently Boring!

You have been happy that your customers leave satisfied. You have sold them a product or service that meets their wants or needs. Or you solved their problem for them. You were happy because, in the end, they were satisfied. But that’s not good enough. Satisfied customers feel their experience is good, not better, just average. Nobody raves about average. And satisfied customers will leave when they find an experience that is better or a price that is less expensive.

So, don’t serve to sell to customers. And don’t serve to satisfy customers. Don’t treat customers as they would expect to be treated. And don’t follow the Golden Rule to treat them as you want to be treated. Instead, treat them a little better than they want to be treated. Serve to WOW them.

Be Magnificently Boring!

Customer loyalty is not ONE BIG WOW to a customer. It’s one little wow delivered consistently to every guest. Be Magnificently Boring! Consistently deliver a low-cost, no-cost “a little better than the average experience that customers expect” product or service so tediously repetitive that you feel it is boring, but to the customer, at that moment, you are Magnificent! For retailers, start opening 10 minutes earlier and closing 10 minutes later. For hotels, offer bottled water at arrival and departure. For auto service repair businesses, wash the car before returning the vehicle. For restaurants, personalize the menu with the customers’ names and any special occasions, such as birthdays or anniversaries.

But being Magnificently Boring may not be good enough for some customers. So, remember that customers pay for THEIR experience, not yours. They buy with emotion and justify their decision with reason. They seek the best emotional value in their entire experience, not the minutiae of your logically reasonable best price, product, or service, virtual or physical locations, AI, live chat, or face-to-face customer support, or the many other small details of your experience. So, if other businesses have delivered Magnificently Boring products or services, technological advances, and AI interactions to their customers, you have to do better.

Customers don’t seek B2B or B2C businesses. They engage in businesses that are H2H. Human to Human. One to One. Heart to Heart. Customers don’t care how big your business is. They only care how big you care about them. So, CARE BIG! Serve to WOW them! Serve to CARE.

COMMUNICATE with every customer with a smile, eye contact, and polite interaction. Inform each customer transparently and interactively of the product’s or service’s function, liabilities, and advantages to them. Listen empathetically to understand the customer’s questions, concerns, and complaints.

ACKNOWLEDGE each customer’s presence and value to you and your business.

RESPOND promptly and empathetically to each customer’s questions, concerns, and complaints.

ENRICH the experiences and, ultimately, the lives of every customer.

Be Magnificently Boring to CARE!

Consistently CARE for your customers so repetitively that you feel it is boring, but to every customer, at that moment, you are Magnificent! And when you do, customers have an emotional connection. The more emotional the connections, the more memorable the experiences, and the more loyal the customers are. Loyal customers will return, again and again, raving about you to others. 

The value to your customers is in their personal interactions, not in your “cash or credit” business transactions. When it comes to customers and customer experience, 

Think RELATIONSHIPS or Go Broke. Literally.

Magnificently Boring consistency builds trust. Trust builds relationships. Relationships build loyalty. Loyalty builds your business. So,  

Be Magnificently Boring! and Be Magnificently Boring to CARE!

#customerservice #customerexperience #custserv #custexp #cx

English writer Samuel Johnson said, “People need to be reminded more often than they need to be instructed.” So, as you prepare your team to engage your customers, I encourage you to remind them when you say, “Let’s not be just good. Let’s be GREAT out there!”

During the month of June, I will offer each one of the Three Principles to Build Customer Loyalty. In this first week, I give you Principle One: Be the Customer.

“Customers perceive service in their own unique, idiosyncratic, emotional, irrational, end-of-the-day, and totally human terms. Perception is all there is!” Tom Peters.

Did you know that FedEx delivery people never run? They are told not to run. Do you know why? It’s because if their customers saw them running, those customers might FEEL that FedEx was running late. And that is NOT what FedEx wants to project. Their performance standard that they tell their drivers is “Walk quickly with purpose.” FedEx does that because they know that to customers, image is everything, their feelings are facts, and their perception is reality.

When I say, “County Fair”, what do you remember and feel about that experience? If I asked, “What do the grounds look like at the County Fair”, what is your perception? You can “see” the half-eaten corn cobs and the cotton candy sticks on the grounds. What if I say, “County Fair restrooms”? You probably remember someone shouting before you left home, “Everyone, go now because you don’t want to go when you are at the fair.” When you are looking for the porta-potties, you DON’T want to see what’s behind door #2. What about if I said, “County Fair ride operator”? What is your perception? Probably something like this:

Now I say to you, “Disney”, and I say the same three things. What do the grounds look like? You can picture the hedge that’s cut to look like Mickey Mouse. What do the restrooms look like? I’ve done this presentation for thousands of people and no one has ever said that the restrooms were dirty. What about the ride operator? Let me tell you what the grooming standard is for a male ride operator at Disney. Hair can not touch the back of the collar in a standing position. All facial hair (beards, goatees, and mustaches) must be fully grown in, neatly groomed, and well maintained and no longer than 1/4 of an inch in length. Mustaches may extend below the corners of the mouth to meet with the facial beard. Cast Members without a mustache, beard, or goatee are expected to be clean-shaven every day. Why is that? Because Disney understands their customer. When mom and dad and the kids are in Orlando deciding to go to Universal, Sea World, or Disney, who chooses? Mom or Dad? Mom. Disney knows that the mother is the decision maker. And what are the two things important to the mom when bringing her children to an unfamiliar place? #1 is Safety. So that is why everyone at Disney is dressed in costume so that if a child gets lost, he or she will gravitate to someone in costume instead of someone dressed like us on vacation. What’s #2 important to Mom? Cleanliness. That’s why Disney makes sure that their restrooms are immaculate. And why the strict grooming standard? Because Disney knows that if you aren’t being brought to Disney by your parents, you’re being brought by your grandparents. Ask any grandparent, would you mind leaving your grandchild with that employee, the one over there with the long hair, tattoos, and body piercings? What is Grandma going to say? “No way! If he’s not ON drugs, he’s probably selling drugs.” That employee could be the most polite person, but it doesn’t matter. All that matters is how Grandma FEELS. And her feelings are her facts.

Customers don’t seek B2B or B2C businesses. They engage in businesses that are H2H. Human to Human. One to One Heart to Heart. Customers buy with emotion and justify their decisions with reason.

QUI Takeaway: To earn customer loyalty, don’t get inside their heads. Get inside their hearts. Create an emotional connection. Don’t just think like the customer. Be the customer.

#customerservice #customerexperience #custserv #custexp #cx