What’s a buzz-worthy Customer Experience today?

Ah, buzz.

Viral you-name-it (video, blog post, product or service everyone’s got to have).

Good ol’ word-of-mouth referrals.

We all want buzz for our companies—and in spite of the huge growth of Internet buzz, the referrals we trust most are still those of friends, family, and colleagues. Maybe because word-of-mouth recommendations between friends are more rare than ever in our hectic lives. Who has time to stop and chat about the great new soap we just bought or the person who cleans our gutters? The less old-fashioned buzz there is, the more we trust it. It must be great if your buddy says, “Go check this out.”

 

So what kinds of companies are creating Customer Experience that’s worthy of word-of-mouth?

 

A company that puts you at ease when you’re trying/ buying something new or out of your usual realm (from attorneys to sushi bars to tattoo parlors, some manage this and some make customers feel like running away)

    ✔ Buzz-worthy

 

A company that makes you feel your kids are welcome—without making you feel that *you* have to be 8 to enjoy yourself

    ✔ Buzz-worthy

 

A company doing run-of-the-mill (think grocery stores, fast food restaurants, shoe shopping, dry cleaning, banking) impeccably well—yes, just putting the shine of perfectionism on a perfectly ordinary, expected product or service can amaze a jaded customer

    ✔ Buzz-worthy

 

A company that TRULY seems to have your best interests at heart (which as a wonderful, karmic byproduct, fulfills their own best interests)

    ✔ Buzz-worthy

 

A company that knows how to ac-cent-tchu-ate the positive— “The heck with economic talk and gloom and doom! We’re going to seize the day! Are you with us?” Find a company that’s spreading authentic joy and you’ll tell anyone you know who needs a lift

    ✔ Buzz-worthy

 

Not-so-buzz-worthy:

The loud, the brash, the self-consciously hip, look-at-me businesses; the businesses that think you should find them, figure them out, and “get it” before you bother them; the businesses with a veneer of gorgeous (and usually expensive!) covering an inability to get the basics right.

 

Maximum Customer Experience take-away for you:

It doesn’t matter what product or service you sell—there is a way that you can be buzz-worthy. It’s the Experience, not what your company sells, that starts the buzz machine humming.

 

What was the last company you were bubbling over to recommend (in-person) to a friend or colleague? Why?

What makes a buzz-worthy Customer Experience to you these days?

 

Grow and buzz well,

Kelly Erickson

 

P.S. This video gets a bit (!) cheesy at the end, but I had a hankering to spread a little authentic joy today, so please enjoy Bing Crosby singing one of his signature songs:

Ac-cent-tchu-ate the Positive et al. Bing Crosby with the U.S. 11th Naval District Coast Guard Band, 1943.