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Happy is not enough

Ask most business owners how it is they hope they’re making their customers feel and they’ll probably say “happy”.

Nick Hall By Nick Hall

Nowadays though, happy is not enough.

If you want to make a lasting, positive customer impression you’re going to have to do a lot better than happy, because as an emotional outcome it is far too everywhere and ordinary to provide any substantial differentiation or value. That’s why it’s the mother of all emoticons.

A few steps up from happy is delight. Delight is much more effective than happy, because additional effort and insight is required to achieve it. That’s probably why it's also a rare occurrence.

At Human, we think of delight as a combination of happy and surprise. When looking for ways to delight people, it’s important to know what sort of gestures will serve to tickle their amygdala (which is not nearly as rude as it may sound). As human beings, many of your employees will find this relatively easy and quite natural, assuming they’re granted the required insights and autonomy. As a side benefit, they’ll also find more pleasure and satisfaction in their job, so really everyone wins when you do this. And how often can you say that?

Imagine what sort of impact delighting just 10% more of your customers would have on your business. How would it affect employee engagement, ad spend, customer loyalty, wallet share, referral levels and your social media presence? Now imagine going beyond “mere” delight and using specific, brand-born emotions to create a customer experience that is more meaningful, unique and valuable than any of your competitors.

Viewing your brand as an experience rather than just a product or service will allow you to realize opportunities for adding meaning and value in places and ways that are currently all but invisible to you. If you’re wondering what that process looks like, I invite you to begin your experience with Human.

Here’s to a delightful new year!