This was 20 years ago and I still remember it. I was taking a long trip and stopped by a Grandy’s drive thru late at night. I ordered their chicken fried steak and two sides. I put the car in drive and came around to the side of the building and saw an arm outstretched at the window holding a bag. As I drove up I asked what that bag was and they said it was my order. I asked a bunch of questions and did not want to accept it – thinking it was someone’s returned order (although no one was ahead of me). I even opened the bag and closely looked at everything. It was clear it REALLY was my order. Everything was perfect. Hot… no mashed potatoes slopped in the corn, etc. Can you imagine the team work and motivation to do this. Think how good they felt when I told them this was a most amazing experience!

Welcome to the WOW Customer Service Blog. If you are interested in delivering WOW customer service to increase your profits, you have come to the right place. At this blog, we will share our insights and experience from improving customer service at businesses nationwide.
Let’s start with our definition. WOW customer service is…

“Going beyond satisfying ALL of a customer’s spoken needs. It is exceeding their spoken/unspoken needs and expectations to consistently delight the customer at every opportunity, using a team approach”

In this definition there are several key points.

The first is that your team delivers service that goes beyond the customer’s spoken needs. For example, you walk into a new store for the first time and say “I am looking for the bread aisle”. Typically you will get an employee that points and says “over there, aisle 2” – but not at this new store. The employee smiles and takes the customer right over to the bread section. Instead of leaving, the employee asks “What kind of bread are you looking for?” and you say “white bread”. The employee says “We actually have some white bread on sale right over here too, if you are interested”.

What just happened…the employee went beyond the spoken need and delivered on an unspoken need – saving money. Do you think you will mention this experience to anyone else or go back there again? Do you think many stores deliver on the WOW experience? Nope and so whatever business you’re in, you have a golden opportunity to create WOW experiences customer by customer, to increase your profits.

Second, WOW customer service delights the customer at MULTIPLE opportunities. For example right when you arrive at the parking lot, the grounds are clean, a team member says “hello” to you when you walk in the front door and another team member says “Hi” to you as you pass by.

Third, WOW customer service is not good customer service that meets the customer’s expectations. Rather it is customer service that EXCEEDS the customer’s expectations – the suggestion of the sale item.

Fourth, WOW customer service is constant. When you visit at different locations and at different times of the day, you get the same WOW level of service.

And last but VERY important, WOW customer service is delivered with a TEAM approach. I was reminded of this point the other day when I went out of my way to let the restaurant manager know that their order taker/cashier was one of the best…she apologized for a short delay, was very friendly, repeated the order, counted my change and said thank you as I departed with my order. I was 4 miles away when I checked my order and it was wrong! The person filling the order messed it up. I did not want cheese (I am trying to keep the pounds off!) . I mean that cheese was melted all over the sandwich. It ruined the whole experience and underscores the importance of the team approach. With our grocery store example, what would happen to your experience if you went to the checkout line and the cashier was talking to other employees and ignored you?

Thank you for visiting. There is no “perfect” definition. What is your definition? Please give us your comments and stay tuned for more valuable insights!