RAB Insights

RAB Research Archive

WOW Customer Service



Yesterday, we shared the story of a customer experience at a local retail store that was not appealing. Today for balance, I wanted to share an exceptional example of how to WOW your customers.

My wife Carolyn’s birthday and our wedding anniversary fall within a few weeks of each other. This allows me to group the two and create an extra special experience for her. She loves live jazz music, and now that we can experience that again, one of the best places close to us to enjoy live jazz is in Chicago, with its many jazz clubs.

As luck would have it, many hotels are running specials to bring back travelers. I found a great rate ($169 – that’s good for Chicago!) at an upscale hotel in Chicago. I booked the room online. Within one hour of booking the room, reservations called to thank me for my booking and asked if I was celebrating a special occasion. I told them it was my wife’s birthday. They suggested that I might want to have some champagne and chocolate-dipped strawberries in the room upon arrival to make it special for her. I agreed.

The next day, I received a call from the concierge: “Mr. Schmidt, we are so thrilled that you are going to be spending the night with us and celebrating Mrs. Schmidt’s birthday. I checked with our spa, and they have an early afternoon couples massage and spa manicure and pedicure for your wife available if you would like me to book it for you; I’m sure she would love our spa.” I agreed.

Three days before our arrival I received a call from the bell captain: “Mr. Schmidt, we are excited to see you and Mrs. Schmidt this Friday. To be ready for you, can you please tell me the make and model of your vehicle, your license plate and your estimated time of arrival? We have valet service, and I want to make certain there is no delay in getting you to your spa appointment.” I provided the information, and of course, paid for the valet service.

At the designated time, we arrived at the hotel. A young man greeted us at our car: “Welcome, Mr. and Mrs. Schmidt, it’s so nice to have you. Mrs. Schmidt, happy birthday, we are so happy to be celebrating with you.”

The doorman said, “Good afternoon Mr. and Mrs. Schmidt. Happy birthday Mrs. Schmidt.”

We arrive at check-in: “Mr. and Mrs. Schmidt, you’re all set, here are your keys. Mrs. Schmidt, happy birthday, we hope you have a wonderful stay.” The clerk then leans over to me and whispers, “Mr. Schmidt, I took the liberty of having a nice cake delivered to the room for Mrs. Schmidt. When you get to the room, the candle will be lit and ready for her to begin the celebration.”

Needless to say, my great $169 rate turned into about a $650 birthday celebration weekend, but they made my wife feel like royalty. It was worth every penny.

Providing WOW customer service is even more critical today, given all the competitive buying choices. As a source of business advantage, are you providing helpful information to your clients on how they can super-serve and make their customers HAPPY? Our H.A.P.P.Y. customer strategy from yesterday’s tip, or today’s example of WOW service, might be something you consider sharing with your clients.

It would also be great for you to brainstorm in a sales meeting to ask your team what you can do as a media company to provide WOW service to your clients. What are the little things you could do as a company that will help to differentiate you from the other media reps calling on your clients?

If you’re willing to share some of those ideas, we always love to hear about them. Please email me here with some special things you do, and we’ll be sure to pick a few and share them with you in future tips.

“People will forget what you said. People will forget what you did. But people will never forget how you made them feel.” - Maya Angelou

Jeff Schmidt is SVP-Professional Development at the Radio Advertising Bureau. You can reach Jeff at Jeff.Schmidt@Rab.com, or follow him on social media: Twitter, LinkedIn.

Source: Jeff Schmidt, RAB