Surprise and Delight

Word-of-mouth is arguably the most effective form of marketing. There is little your organization can do to control this form of communication, but there is a simple way of encouraging lots of positive chatter.

Expressing your brand personality to connect with customers, and most importantly to Surprise and Delight them will create the brand affinity needed to tell others about. Think of the last WOW moment you had a retailer or a restaurant you visited – something you didn’t expect but made your experience more memorable. Did you tell anyone about it? Chances are you did.

“Personality is the unique, authentic, and talkable soul of your brand that people can get passionate about.” - Rohit Bhargava in Personality not included

The concept of Surprise and Delight is not a new one (it has been famously used by Starbucks for years), but I have not heard or read about many examples in the financial services arena. Financial institutions are known to have a certain facelessness and lack personality.

By developing a program to rally your employees around and allow them to express a little of your defined brand personality will create deeper connection with your customers and employees. Think how powerful it would be if the next interaction your customer has with your brand left them with a big smile and a story to tell (a positive one).

Your Retail Challenge: Small things can even do the trick, think about the ways you could surprise and delight your customers. To get the ideas flowing consider aspects of a branch visit:

  • How are visitors to your branch greeted?

  • Could you do something to improve the waiting experience?

  • What are you doing to say Thank you for their business?

  • What is the last thing someone sees when leaving your branch?

  • What is the Drive-Thru experience like?

Also, consider special events, like customer birthdays or account anniversaries.

Some Favorites:
Personality not included by Rohit Bhargava
Creating Customer Commitment in Retail from Aberdeen Group
The Consumerist Where Shoppers Bite Back

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