Creating the 'Wow!' Customer Experience

When is the last time you walked away amazed from an ordinary retail purchase? Imagine for a second someone buying a simple product, such as business cards, and raving about the customer experience.

It's been just over 24 hours since I left The Container Store and the "Wow!" has yet to fade.

There are two components to this story. First, there was Jen. I had come in that Saturday to purchase a wall closet system. You know the type: Shelving and mesh basket drawers and hangers, all suspended from a metal rack. You walk in with some measurements of the space that you've got but you're not quite sure how to picture the end results.

Enter Jen.

After learning what we wanted to accomplish and asking a few good open-ended questions, she took to the mouse and keypad and quickly drew up a visual solution that, with a couple of minor changes, gave me a "Yes!" reaction.

It was more software magic than sales skill, but it created the end result that I was looking for. Two clicks later, we had a price and the sale was made.

But that's not the "Wow!"

She handed me my receipt, told me it would be a few minutes to gather all the pieces, suggested that I go next door to Ben & Jerry's (I did, and actually met Jerry himself who was there promoting two new flavors and encouraging voter registration), and then really blew me away with what came next.

Anyone who has ever assembled anything from, say, IKEA, understands the frustration of inserting part 8477 into slot C (as shown in figure 3E) and securing it with bolt XXR which looks an awful lot like bolt XXT. It can destroy all the fun.

Along with the receipt and a list of the tools needed and assembly instructions, Jen pointed to a six-digit number and told me to go online and punch that number into the "Assembly Assistance" box. That would prompt a YouTube video to pop-up and teach me how to put my wall unit together.

Really? That last step was the kicker.

The Container Store is an absolute blast to walk through. The things that you can buy that help you to organize your life are clever and fun and you didn't even know you needed them until you walked in. But to walk out with the right solution to your problem and a good feeling about what comes next, the dreaded assembly, makes for the kind of customer experience that you want to rave about, or in this case blog.

What is the value of "Wow!?" How can you create this same customer experience so that your clients rave about you? And before you yell at your computer screen, "But Bill, I don't have thousands of dollars to pump into custom YouTube videos!" understand that creativity is free. So is YouTube.

We tend to think of customer service as beginning with quick response, continuing with good communication and ending with a thank you note. That's all good. But then there is great and great should be your focus.

Imagine a client receiving a link to a YouTube video. They hit the link and up pops your face thanking them personally for the purchase.

Tools required:

• Cell phone with camera
• Internet
• YouTube account
• Creativity

Assembly Instructions:

• Point cell phone camera at face;
• Press “Record;”
• Talk into camera expressing gratitude and using the client's name;
• Mention a few other things that you sell;
• Upload video to YouTube;
• Email link to customer.

It might take a little time and perhaps a small investment, but creating the, "Wow!" reaction goes a long way to getting a referral and a lifelong customer.

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