What is customer delight and why is it important?
When we're talking about inbound marketing, customer delight may be one of the most important pillars if not the most important. If many of you are asking yourselves, 'What is customer delight? You're not alone.
I work with a lot of starts ups who are just getting their toes wet with inbound marketing and are so focused on the first three pillar, attract, convert and close, they they forget about the fourth- delight. Most people are satisfied with the close.
Here's why that's wrong:
"84% of consumers reported always or sometimes taking action based on personal recommendations. 70% said they did the same of online consumer opinions." -Nielsen
When you go above and beyond for your customers and get them excited about your product or service they tend to talk about how great of a brand you are to their friends, family and colleagues. They also tend to share that information on social media.
Word of mouth still is, and as far as I'm concerned, always will be, the most powerful marketing tactic. That's because word of mouth is trusted- it's the only type of marketing that is incredibly hard for advertisers and marketers to infiltrate. That being said, there are ways you can influence customers to talk about your product or service, it's called going above and beyond with your customer service.
Still not buying the importance of this customer delight stuff? Numbers don't lie. Read this Zappos Case Study overview. Zappos has put customer service at the center of their business model. 75% of their business comes from repeat customers.
There are many tactics you can implement to help enhance your customer delight. Whatever tactics you choose focus on these 3 elements:
Trust. Being a company you can trust is huge. People tend not to trust big corporations because people believe those corporations don't have their best interests in mind. Show your customers that you can be reliable. Stay true to your policies (but be flexible), be transparent and be empathetic.
Energy. This is something so many companies overlook. You need to remain excited and energetic about the product or service you are offering. Maybe this looks a little silly or wacky at times, but remember, energy is contagious. You want your customers to be excited about your product, you have to get hyped too.
Loyalty. Loyalty is earned. Be loyal to your customers and their wants and needs. Offer them the best customer support and products/services you possibly can. Loyalty is the end game here. You want every customer to be loyal to your product or service. That's what will buy you years of recurring purchases.
Here's my story about the power of customer delight...
Three years ago my friend Mary and I went to a Birchbox/Benefit event at the Benefit store on Fillmore street in San Francisco. We were both Birchbox customers and Mary raved about Benefit. I don't wear a lot of make up and had never heard of it before.
Because we were Birchbox customers in San Francisco (great targeted marketing btdubs - props Birchbox) we got invited to one of the events Birchbox and Benefit were putting on in San Francisco. For $45 you would get your makeup done, your eyebrows waxed, free champagne and treats and a $35 store credit. That's over a $100 value. We couldn't believe it and we needed a girls night- badly- so we were in.
We went to the event and had a blast! All of the Benefit representatives working the party were so upbeat and fun and made the event a great time. (Energy) The woman who did my make up listened intently to me when I told her I rarely put on a lot of make up. She gave me some great product suggestions and tips that I truly enjoyed and never would have thought about. (Trust) We both ended up spending far more than our $35 credit that night!
Additionally, there was an Instagram competition throughout the night. Pretty standard- post your photo and you get a chance to win a $50 value prize. This was mine:
I won! I never win anything so it was pretty awesome. I had already had such a great evening and become a Benefit customer but this was just the cherry on top!
It got even better! When I got my package of winnings in the mail I received a handwritten, personal note that exclaimed how they hope I had a great evening and that the photo was awesome. If I wasn't sold before, I was definitely hooked now. To this day, Benefit is the only cosmetic product I use. (Loyalty)
