Credibility is built when your customers’ experience far exceeds their expectations; and exceeding expectations doesn’t take much extra time or money.
My wife and I were in Whistler recently and participated in a ‘progressive dining experience’. This is a very fun and unique way to dine as each of four courses takes place in a different restaurant within walking distance. Let me tell you how they earned big kudos and credibility as well as guaranteeing repeat business.
The Offer
Two different four-course packages were offered for dinner; one was for their “local favourites” dining experience and the other was for their “award winning” dining experience with a $20 price difference per person between them. We chose to go with the less expensive of the two as it was more in line with our budget, so we reserved spots for the following day. Within a few hours of our reservation being confirmed we had a call back from the company asking if we’d like to upgrade to the more expensive dining package.
I fully expected this was a call to up-sell me since their local-favourites package was likely a “lost leader”. How shocked was I when the company representative told me that it would be a free upgrade! Seems every now and then they believe that an unexpected little gem of an offer will pay back and be cost-effective in the long run, and they were certainly correct.
Not only did my wife and I splurge on some nice wine to compliment the meal, we told all of our friends and family about our superb experience and also sent in a very positive review to Tripadvisor endorsing their dining program. On the surface it might appear the company had lost money by offering the upgrade, but in reality we not only spent more than we had budgeted for, but we also provided them with great free advertising and will be coming back as a repeat customer the next time we’re in Whistler.
The Benefit
Offering your customers an experience that exceeds their expectations doesn’t always take a lot; give free upgrades, extend warranties, personally show up to help with an installation or delivery of a new product (do something that is not in the contract nor is expected). Get creative and surprise your customers, rarely do they ever see it coming.
What are some creative ways you can enhance your customers' experience with your business or service?
How can providing unexpected ‘add-ons’ help build your company’s credibility?
Do you ask for customer reviews or have a ‘wall of fame’ in your business to enhance credibility?
Always ask your customers “did we exceed your expectations?” With that single question you will receive extremely valuable feedback as to how well you are doing in the eyes of your customer.