Know-How Exchange : Customer Behavior

I would start off by making certain the receptionist in the lobby was a welcome front door to your organization. I have been in a lot of supplier lobbies but there are very few people like "Linda".

It has been 10 years and I still remember the impression she made. Welcome, let me get your coat, can I fix you up with a coffee or soft drink and a ton of other things that let us know we were important to her company. When we told her we were early, she asked if we needed to use a phone, ect.

I also remember a supplier who served gormet coffee... but treated us like we were intruding....

Not sure I understand your question. Is the purpose of the question to inspire you in your business? If so, what business are you in and what type of clients are you referring to? Or, do you just want to hear about creating WOW experiences in general?

Pamelah is dead on. Was your example hypothetical or something you are actually thinking of doing because you have a lobby?

We need to know what your business is, who your customers are and what your business is all about. Without that info we can't really help you.

For instance-How one would wow a customer at a high-end restaurant is vastly different than how you would wow the same customer when they are getting pizza.

Unless the product/service is top-notch, the rest is "putting lipstick on a pig". People might like the extra attention, but ultimately what they care about is the quality of your offering (especially in customer service). It's the quality of people that really care that each person they connect with is taken care of in the way that they'd like to be (and empowered to do so).

In these turbulent times it's a bit of a balancing act! You want to convey an impression of trust, stability, efficiency, quality and even luxury, without even a whiff of extravagance. After all, most of your clients will soon realise that if you're serving them Beluga Caviar, somewhere down the line they'll be paying for it. Get your brand values sorted, and then make sure everything you do supports those.

Even though your question seemed simple, what you are after is the holy grail of marketing. When asking how to "wow" the customer, most of us are probably going to think about the entire marketing process from product development to positioning to target market demographics to marketing strategy etc. that goes into making a customer leave a business and literally say wow, I trust that company and they have earned my business. That is what marketing is all about.

I cant speak for everyone, but I think that when you mentioned serving clients on fine china, we all assumed that you were approaching "wowing" the customers from a superficial point of view, which runs counter to how marketing should be used to really "wow" the customer.

Ask yourself if the methods you might use to create the wow effect fit your customer's demographic profile. Just because someone has that amount of money to invest doesn't mean they would be wowed by fine china. Personally, I'd take a pint of Guinness and a neck massage while waiting. Maybe a little bit of a reach but you get my point.

If you really want to wow the customer be aware that people are worried that any investment might tank right now and be prepared to give them a guarantee of how you will remedy the situation if your advice doesn't go as planned. Let me know what you think.