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How to Wow

I’ve recently subscribed to Seth Godin’s mailing list and receive notices any time he puts up a blog… if you couldn’t already tell. Anyway, this one came in a few hours ago and I really wanted to share it:

There are very few endeavors where perfect is possible (bowling is one, of course). It turns out that when you take on a complex task like putting on a conference or shooting a video, you won’t deliver perfect. 300 is a random event, not something achievable.

In those situations (which means most of the time for most of us) the question is, “what do you do when things don’t go exactly the way you planned a month ago?” And it turns out that if your bias is to always make it right, to use grace and flair to overdeliver at every turn, you’ve just discovered the single most important secret of marketing. Because when you amaze and delight, people talk about you.

When you tell your customer you’re going to do certain things – do them. When you can not keep your promises for reasons out of your control do everything you can to “make it right” and greatly improve the customer’s perception of you and your ability see things through. If the customer is reasonable (meaning a customer whose expectations are in line with reality) you will be able to show them your honesty, integrity and sincerity. You’re going to sell yourself to your customer, and as a result, build a long-term business relationship.

© 2008 Genius Steve.