6/13/2015 Customer delight ­ Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Customer_delight 1/2

Customer delightFrom Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Customer delight is surprising a customer by exceeding his or her expectations and thus creating a positiveemotional reaction. This emotional reaction leads to word of mouth. Customer delight directly affects salesand profitability of a company as it helps to distinguish the company and its products and services from thecompetition.[1][2] In the past customer satisfaction has been seen as a key performance indicator. Customersatisfaction measures the extent to which the expectations of a customer are met (compared to expectationsbeing exceeded). However, it has been discovered that mere customer satisfaction does not create brandloyalty nor does it encourage positive word of mouth.

Customer delight can be created by the product itself, by accompanied standard services and by interactionwith people at the front line. The interaction is the greatest source of opportunities to create delight as it canbe personalized and tailored to the specific needs and wishes of the customer.[3] During contacts with touchpoints in the company, more than just customer service can be delivered. The person at the front line cansurprise by showing a sincere personal interest in the customer, offer small attentions that might please orfind a solution specific to particular needs. Those front­line employees are able to develop a relationshipbetween the customer and the brand. Elements in creating motivated staff are: recruiting the right people,motivating them continuously and leading them in a clear way.[4][5]

Contents

1 Purpose of customer delight2 See also3 References4 Bibliography

Purpose of customer delight

There are three objectives when implementing Customer Delight:

First, make customers loyal. As described by Sewell,[6] that finding new customers costs 4 to 9 timesmore time and money than reselling to an existing client. It is thus commercially intelligent to retainas many clients as possible.[7]A second objective is to have customers that are more profitable. Average delighted customers spendmore with less hassle. As can be seen with the list of Van Setten,[8] when all other elements arecorrect, clients accord less importance to price (as long as their perception of price remainsreasonable).The last objective of Customer Delight is to have clients talk positively about your product, brand orshop, the so­called Word of Mouth. In a world of well informed customers, 92% of customersconsider word of mouth as the most reliable source of information.[9] Delighted clients are a valuablesource of advertisement for your company.

The effect of achieving those objectives, according to Reichheld[10] as described in The Ultimate Question2.0,[11] only 9% of the world’s major firms achieve real sustainable profit and growth over 10­ year periodfrom 1999 to 2009. Customer Delight is the only kind of growth that can be sustained over the long termaccording Reichheld and Markey. The authors mention that their company Bain & Company haveresearched and concluded that a 5% increase in customer retention could yield anywhere between 25% to100% increase in profits. The book explains the Net Promoter Score; a system which measures whatcustomers are feeling and thus creating accountability for the customer experience.

In order to consistently deliver Customer Delight at all customer touch points throughout the company, acustomer­centric­corporate culture is key. With this corporate culture all processes, systems, people andleadership are aligned to deliver Customer Delight; everyone in the organization shares the same set ofvalues, attitudes and practices. Developing the culture is an on­going process, a continuous exercise ofinnovation and improvement, involving every single employee of the company.[12][13] An absolutelynecessary step is linking Customer Delight behaviour to the core values of the brand.[14] Core values are

6/13/2015 Customer delight ­ Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Customer_delight 2/2

operating principles that guide an organization’s internal conduct as well as its relationship with customers,partners and shareholders. Once core values are clearly outlined it is critical to incorporate them intoeverything you do, from hiring, to employee appraisals and decision making.

See also

Customer ServiceService qualityCustomer LoyaltyBrand Management

References1. Gross, Scott (2004). Positively Outrageous Service. How to delight and astound your customers and win themfor life. USA: Dear Born Trade Publishing. p. 8. ISBN 978­0­7931­8823­9.

2. Seth, Rakesh Seth, Kirti (2005). Creating customer delight : the how and why of CRM. New Delhi: ResponseBooks. p. 19. ISBN 9780761932963.

3. Peters], Jan Carlzon ; [foreword by Tom (1989). Moments of truth (Repr. ed.). New York: Perennial Library.p. 2. ISBN 0060915803.

4. Hsieh, Tony (2010). Delivering happiness : a path to profits, passion, and purpose (1st ed.). New York:Business Plus. pp. 144, 145. ISBN 9780446563048.

5. Michelli, Joseph. The Zappos experience : 5 principles to inspire, engage, and wow. New York: McGraw­Hill.p. 136. ISBN 9780071749589.

6. "Customers for Life: How to Turn That One­Time Buyer Into a Lifetime Customer: Carl Sewell, Paul B. Brown:9780385504454: Amazon.com: Books" (http://www.amazon.com/Customers­Life­One­Time­Lifetime­Customer/dp/0385504454). Amazon.com. 2002­11­19. Retrieved 2013­11­01.

7. Sewell, Carl; Brown, Paul B. (2002). Customers for life : how to turn that onetime buyer into a lifetime customer(Rev. ed.). New York: Doubleday. p. 13. ISBN 9780385504454.

8. "De klantenfluisteraar door J. (Jan) van Setten (Boek)" (http://www.managementboek.nl/boek/9789047004004/de­klantenfluisteraar­jan­van­setten). Managementboek.nl. Retrieved 2013­11­01.

9. "Global Consumers' Trust in 'Earned' Advertising Grows in Importance"(http://www.nielsen.com/us/en/insights/press­room/2012/nielsen­global­consumers­trust­in­earned­advertising­grows.html). Nielsen. Retrieved 2013­11­01.

10. "Bain & Company: Net Promoter System ­ Fred Reichheld" (http://www.netpromotersystem.com/speaking­engagements/fred­reichheld.aspx). Netpromotersystem.com. Retrieved 2013­11­01.

11. "Bain & Company: NET PROMOTER SYSTEM ­ About The Ultimate Question 2.0"(http://www.netpromotersystem.com/book/index.aspx). Netpromotersystem.com. Retrieved 2013­11­01.

12. Gallo, Carmine (2012). The Apple experience : the secrets of delivering insanely great customer service (1st ed.).New York: McGraw­Hill. p. 25. ISBN 978­0071793209.

13. Kaufman, Ron (2012). Uplifting service : the proven path to delighting your customers, colleagues, and everyoneelse you meet. [New York, NY]: Evolve Publishing. pp. 22, 23, 24, 25. ISBN 978­0984762507.

14. Michelli, Joseph. The Zappos experience : 5 principles to inspire, engage, and wow. New York: McGraw­Hill.p. 48. ISBN 9780071749589.

BibliographySpoil 'em Rotten!, Five­Star Customer Delight in Action by Jane & Ted Coine, ISBN 9780595424122The Ultimate Question 2.0 (revised and expanded edition): How Net Promoter Companies Thrive in aCustomer­Driven World, ISBN 978­1422173350The New Gold Standard: 5 Leadership Principles for Creating a Legendary Customer ExperienceCourtesy of the Ritz­Carlton Hotel Company, ISBN 978­0­07­154833­5"You make the difference", by Marieke van der Laan & Johannes van de Water, ISBN 978­94­6228­410­4

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