So yesterday I was in the US Post Office…one of the places I dread to go…like most Americans. Why? Because we know what to expect…we know the norm. It is not going to be an inviting environment, it is going to be a long line, and when I get to the counter I will feel like an idiot. That about sums up the experience most of us have when we interact with one of the icons in America.
But something happened…something different. Yes, it was still not an inviting environment, yes it was still disorganized (never know where anything is in there) and yes there were still long lines…but for once I didn’t feel like an idiot when it was my turn at the counter! The lady was surprisingly pleasant, like she was enjoying her job…wait, was I really at the Post Office? Nobody I see when I look around looks like they are enjoying their job…but she did. She smiled. She asked how she could help me with my package. She answered my questions with some logical alternatives. She gave me a recommendation of the best way to ship it for the cost and the time and actually worked through the questions I had with grace and pleasantries. I DIDN’T FEEL LIKE AN IDIOT.
When we wrote our book on Customer Experiences (Creating and Delivering Totally Awesome Customer Experiences) we coined a term for what just happened. We called it “Random Acts of Excellence and Chaos.” I just had a random act of excellence…from the Post Office. I felt great at that moment…in fact I told several other people throughout the day. And today it even made it to my blog and social channels…it is now going to reach about 10,000 people through these channels. All because someone stepped out of the “expected” and delivered the “unexpected”…a WOW experience (at least for the Post Office).
But here’s the sad part…and where most companies miss it. It won’t last. It won’t be there next time. It won’t get talked about again. It didn’t start a change, it was just a random act of excellence.
How about your own company or organization? How many “random acts of excellence or chaos” are happening right now inside your own walls…and you don’t even know about it? How many customers are reacting the way I did at the Post Office and saying, it was great and caught my attention, but it won’t happen again. The beauty of random acts is they can be repeated…and with consistency. This is what Customer Centric organizations do…every day. String a bunch of random acts together, called a Customer Experience Map, and deliver it every day…to every customer.
So ask yourself, “Do we have random acts of excellence happening? And if you do, maybe it’s time to stitch them together and make it the “expected experience.” I wonder if this could ever happen at the Post Office…
