26 June 2005 ~ 3 Comments

Are you a Customer Delighting SUPERstar?

While taking a stroll with TheWoman this weekend, we decide to amble into The Gap.  After finding some shorts she desperately had to have, we were disappointed to learn they didn’t have the colors she had chosen, in her correct size.  The sales associate checked the stockroom, and then the inventory of the surrounding stores, and came up with nothing within 20 miles of our location.  Now here’s where the story gets interesting. 

GapGirl offers another solution- we can order online.  TheWoman immediately panics.  It took me a month to find these specific shorts in the store, how the @#%#%$ will I ever find them again online?  And what if the sale price isn’t honored online?  I’ll have to pay for shipping too?  This all sounds like a lot of time, effort and dollars down the drain. 

GapGirl smiles, as she knows the pure delight that’s about to follow.  If you’d like, she explains, I can place the order for you right now, at the same price we’re offering in store.  In fact, you can even pay for them with your in-store purchases, all at the same time, on the same receipt.  Since you’re placing the order from the store, we’re even happy to pick up the shipping for you.  Would you like them delivered Tuesday AM or PM?

An organization’s Delight Factor is much more than aiming to please, it’s about absolutely blowing away the customer in delight.  Under-promising, and over-delivering.  And people say Conversion Analysts are always negative, pessimistic sorts.  (It’s the curse of the job, really.  Spending much of our time providing Real World Sales Analysis, our clients don’t pay us for affirmation of what they’re doing right- they pay for uncovery (and recommendations, of course) of all the things they’re doing wrong.  So naturally, you can see why we’re not usually a hit at parties!)  It’s important to note, you can learn plenty from studying the successes of others. 

How exceptional is your site’s Delight Factor?

3 Responses to “Are you a Customer Delighting SUPERstar?”