How to Wow Someone: 9 Tips to Surprise and Delight your Customers

“My products and services are great, but my sales aren’t catching up! What’s going wrong?”

Does that sound like you? Well, here’s the truth: having excellent products and services is no longer enough to make you stand out. Customers are pickier, and their expectations across all touchpoints of your brand are getting higher and higher. If you want to be a game-changer, you need to up your customer satisfaction. It may sound like a no-brainer, but honestly, it gets overlooked all too often. According to a recent survey, just one bad experience can send a customer packing. Don’t let that happen! 

So what exactly does customer satisfaction mean? Put sumply, it’s about how your customers feel when interacting with your brand. Think of it as going the extra mile to give them experiences they won’t forget. As you make them feel valued, you establish a connection with them, keep them loyal to your brand, and even turn them into loyal supporters. 

And the best part? You don’t have to have the “best” product or service on the market to make it happen! You just need to be able to take your customer service to the next level.

Here are nine tips to surprise and delight the people who buy from you.

1. Understand Your Customers

Getting to know your ideal customers is important, especially in their first 100 days with you. As Joey Coleman emphasizes in his book “Never Lose a Customer Again,” the initial stages of the customer lifecycle can decide if they’ll stay loyal to your brand. Here’s how to give them a remarkable experience right from the start:

• Conduct Customer Surveys: Don’t hesitate to ask for feedback. Doing surveys can help you gather valuable insights and understand how you can serve your customers better.

• Monitor Social Media and Online Reviews: Customers often like to share their experiences online. By keeping a close eye on what they say in posts and online reviews, you can get a clearer picture of what they’re looking for.

• Use Customer Data: Peter Drucker said, “You can’t improve what you don’t measure.” Remember this when dealing with customer data. This information reveals what you need to improve your business, so study it closely and use the insights to offer personalized experiences for your customers.

2. Go Above and Beyond with Customer Service

When it comes to customer service, it’s not just about what you offer - it’s about keeping your customers happy. Here are a few tips to go above and beyond expectations:

• Train Your Team: Here’s a fun fact: customers are 93% more likely to return after a positive customer service experience. To win them over, train your customer service team to exceed expectations. Empowering them with the right skills and mindset can create loyal customers who keep coming back for more.

• Be Proactive: Don’t wait around for customers to ask for help. Instead, anticipate their needs and always be thinking of ways you can better serve them. By taking the initiative and being proactive, you exceed their expectations and pleasantly surprise them.

• Resolve Issues Quickly and Efficiently: Problems can (and will) show up in your business at any time - what matters most is how quickly and efficiently you resolve them. Your customers want to be reassured that you’ve got their back, so act fast when issues arise.

3. Reward Loyalty

Loyal customers are the beating heart of any business. They stick with your brand and recommend you to others, so be sure to show them some love! Here’s how to reward loyal customers:

• Implement a Loyalty Program: Make customers feel seen and appreciated through a loyalty program. Giving them perks like discounts or exclusive access to new products or services is a great way to show you’re grateful for their continued support.

• Give Exclusive Deals and Discounts: Loyal customers deserve VIP treatment, and you can do this by treating them to exclusive deals and discounts. Offering them something special just for them will make them feel valued.

• Offer Personalized Touches:Thoughtful gestures can make a big impact. Take the time to send personalized thank-you notes or small gifts to show your repeat customers that you value them. This will also remind them why they made the right choice by choosing your brand.

4. Use Creative Marketing Tactics

Are you struggling to grab your customers' attention in an ocean of content? Time to get creative! Here are some inspiring ideas to make your business shine:

Host Memorable Events and Webinars: Delighting your customers is all about engaging them. Hosting webinars or special event can leave a lasting impressing. It’s all about giving them a valuable they don’t forget the experience!

Offer Exclusive Sneak Peeks: Make customers feel like insiders with exclusive sneak peeks of what's in store. Give them early access to new products or services and keep them excited for more.

Harness the Power of Social Media: Show up on social media to create buzz around your brand. Whether you want to share customers’ testimonials, catch their eye with engaging content, or pique their curiosity with interactive quizzes, you have the power to keep them eager for more.

5. Make Every Interaction Memorable

Every interaction with your customers is an opportunity to make a lasting impression, so make it count. By going the extra mile in even the smallest way, you’ll naturally stand out from the competition. Here are some ways to make your customers love interacting with your business:

• Be Detail-Oriented: Ever noticed how unboxing videos seem to be everywhere these days? Their views have shot up by 57% over the past year, and for a good reason: they offer an exceptional customer experience. That’s why focusing on creating an unforgettable unboxing experience is important. It all starts with paying attention to the packaging and presentation. When you put in the effort to make every detail count, you show you genuinely care about your customers.

• Add a Personal Touch: A little personal touch can take your customer communication to the next level. Addressing customers by name and tailoring an experience to their specific needs creates a meaningful connection between parties. Trust me, when you treat your customers as the unique individuals they are (and not just a number), they will feel it!

• Surprise With Unexpected Gestures: Set your brand apart by creating remarkable experiences for your customers. Unexpected gestures can be surprising them with small gifts, samples, or handwritten thank-you notes to let them know how much you appreciate their business.

6. Continuously Improve and Innovate

In business, one thing is certain: things are always changing. In order to keep up, you have to constantly be adapting and improving what you bring to the table. Follow these tips to make sure your business stays competitive:

• Listen to Customer Feedback: Always take feedback seriously. Comments, suggestions, and complaints tell you exactly what customers like and don’t like. Use all feedback to fine-tune your products and services.

• Embrace New Technologies: Keeping up with the latest trends can be challenging, but it’s worth being open to trying new technologies. For example, you can use speech-to-text technology to transcribe interviews or AI-powered tools to identify trends in your PR campaigns. Embracing these innovations can streamline your work, giving you an edge in the market.

• Stay Ahead of the Curve: As McKinsey & Company puts it, the three C’s of customer satisfaction are consistency, consistency, and consistency. Since the business world is always evolving, it’s important to monitor industry trends and be proactive in trying new strategies. This shows you’re a leader and willing to do what it takes to make sure your business stays relevant.

7. Emphasize Sustainability and Social Responsibility

One way to earn (and keep) trust with your customers is by aligning your values with your customers’. By embracing sustainability and social responsibility, you connect with them on a deeper level. Show that you care about the environment and your community with these steps:

• Go Green: Taking care of our planet is a win for everyone and everything - including your business. In fact, 81% of people believe that companies should help the environment. Showing that you’re doing your part can be as simple as using eco-friendly packaging, recycling properly, and promoting green practices in your office.

• Get Involved in the Community: Being part of the community means getting involved. When you team up with charitable organizations to give back, you create meaningful connections with your customers. Ultimately, it shows that you’re simply not here to make money; you want to make a positive difference, too.

8. Encourage and Respond to Feedback

Opening yourself up to feedback is essential for long-term success. It’s about putting your customers first and showing them that as a brand, you value their opinions. Here’s how you can leverage feedback to transform your business for the better:

• Make Giving Feedback Easy: Giving feedback shouldn’t be a hassle for your customers. Make it effortless for them to reach you by offering convenient ways, like quick online surveys. 

• Give Prompt and Personal Responses: Once you receive feedback, don’t keep your customers waiting. Respond promptly and personally, thank them, and let them know you value their thoughts.

• Always Improve: Receiving feedback is like getting valuable tips on how to improve your business. Whether the feedback is positive or negative, see it as an opportunity to do better and use it to your advantage.

9. Build Emotional Connections

Building emotional bonds with your customers goes beyond providing products or services they love. It’s about establishing a genuine connection with your brand as a whole. Here’s how you can build these meaningful connections:

• Match Their Values: Let your customers know you’re on their side by understanding their values and aspirations. Take the time to get to know them, then show how your brand matches what’s important to them.

• Build a Community: Building a sense of community can truly impress your customers. Use social media platforms and organize events to create a place where your customers can connect better with your brand and engage with each other.

• Tell Compelling Stories: Stories have the power to create a strong emotional connection. By telling heartfelt ones and giving your customers a chance to share their own, you deepen the emotional bond between you and your customers and create a community with shared stories.

By truly surprising and delighting your customers, you hold the key to keeping them genuinely happy and excited to buy from your brand. Get to know them inside out, exceed expectations with killer customer service, give them sweet rewards for sticking around, and get creative with your marketing game. Make every interaction memorable, constantly improve and come up with fresh ideas, and show that you're all about sustainability and being socially responsible. Remember to listen to their feedback and build those emotional connections.

Trust me, when prioritizing customer satisfaction, you'll leave them blown away and build an army of loyal fans!