What makes a business a success?
- the brilliance of their strategy?
- the vision of their leader?
- their clever use of AI?
- the number of MBA’s they have on their teams?
- their productivity levels?
- their deployment of all the latest efficiency technology?
No question that all of the above are contributing factors to success, but in my experience there is one simple characteristic that separates the average organization from the truly outstanding and unmatched one.
Special & extremely successful organizations have figured out ways to give their customers “goosebumps” during the engagement process!
It’s as simple as that, yet I know of few organizations that pay attention to this unbelievably impactful tactic.
Why do goosebumps lead to business success?
Because goosebumps happen when someone is overcome with the emotion they are FEELING in the moment.
They are surprised with what someone else has done for them.
They are overwhelmed with the kindness that has been shown to them by another human.
They are amazed with how much effort someone else has put into delivering what they expect.
They are left breathless because of the empathy shown by someone who is engaged with them.
Goosebumps show up when human caring and compassion are at play.
So what? I get goosebumps. How does that lead to business success?
Well, the “Goosebump-ee” is happy with the experience they’ve just witnessed.
They conclude you are an organization that is special and DiFFERENT from others in a crowd of plastic, superficial, product-flogging, indifferent and profit-centric pluralists.
They decide to continue to give you their money, AND they tell everyone they know how amazing you are, AND they give you gasp-worthy reviews.
The Goosebump-ee sells you to others. They are your best advocates to the marketplace.
Your Service Strategy should have one and ONLY one objective… to evoke goosebumps from the customer being served.
Some moves I made to achieve the goosebump outcome in every customer engagement:
- recruit people who actually “love humans” and who are driven to take care of them.
- reinvent your policies to enable the customer transaction and not control it.
- track whether or not customers are dazzled with the serving experience they receive.
- include the goosebump outcome in employee performance plans.
- celebrate people who consistently evoke goosebumps from customers, and have an annual “Goose Award” for the person who is the champion.
Sounds crazy, right?
But I guarantee that if you implement the concept you will be well on your way to building a customer-obsessed culture with the loyalty benefits that go with it.
Related: Passion Pays: 5 Surprising Reasons It Fuels Six-Figure Success