The Ninja in a Parallel Universe

This is a follow up to my guest post “Ninja – The Power of Expectation” on Barry Dalton's blog Customer Service Stories…and Other Thoughts (http://custservicestories.blogspot.com/).

Barry is a customer service and technology executive with a passion for the responsible use of technology to enhance the customer experience. His current focus is on service innovation and the contact center of the future. He's a thought-leader with an active and loyal following on Twitter, an expert who honors me by guest-posting on this blog.

In Ted’s post, he presented a compelling analogy between customer’s expectations and her perception of the experience delivered. In Ted’s example, you expect great service at a luxury hotel. So that presents a challenge to the experience provider in the “wow factor” category. How do you exceed an already high level of service expectation? And, if you simply meet the expectation, what does that gain you in terms of loyalty, retention and brand equity? On the other hand, in a low value, commoditized transaction, little incremental improvements in the experience can have a dramatically positive effect on the customer’s perception of the overall experience and the business. So in those situations, there is significant leverage to move the needle on those dimensions.

What happens however to the ninja in a parallel universe? The place where customer expectations are set and the service fails to deliver on that expectation.

The negative impact of poor service, I would argue cuts across the brand spectrum and destroys value indiscriminately. Unfortunately for those value-based brands, the contrary to Ted’s proposition does not hold up. If it did, you would think that the luxury brand would have more to lose from a slip and fall on the customer service banana peel. However, in today’s experience economy, when the low value brand falls of the cliff, it doesn’t get a free pass vis-à-vis the high value ones.

With the myriad choices available, at a time where information is overabundant, consumers need to apply a finer set of filters in order to organize their buying criteria. It seems to me that customers’ expectations of service these days are universally high, regardless of the absolute price of a product or service or its elasticity.

As basis for my conclusions, I wouldn’t characterize myself as a luxury shopper. I’m pretty simple, shopping most often at Target, Costco, Joseph A Bank and, if I feel like splurging on occasion, stopping by a Whole Foods or Fresh Market for something “exotic” for dinner. Regardless, whenever I’ve have a poor experience, I’m equally disappointed and apt to take my business away from The Holiday Inn in Columbus as I am from The Mark Hopkins in San Francisco (yes, both actual examples).

So while the concept of “giving a little extra at the time of purchase triggers surprise and delight”, as Stan Phelps of 9 Inch Marketing (http://9inchmarketing.com/) describes, buys the low value brand an exponentially positive benefit in customer perception, a little slip up can pummel any company, grand or meek, into submission. Just take a peek at the latest reaction to Spirit Airline’s decision to start charging for carry on baggage (http://ow.ly/1AoXU).

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My earlier post, "The Ninja-Power of Expectations," which appeared on Barry's blog earlier this month: http://custservicestories.blogspot.com/2010/04/ninja-power-of-expectations.html