Delighting Customers
Creating Champions Through Community
In the Harvard Business Review article from July-August 2010 Stop Trying to Delight Your Customers, authors Matt Dixon, Karen Freeman, and Nick Toman argue that customers want simple solutions to their problems and that going above and beyond makes little difference. They should know. They developed tools to predict customer loyalty that goes above and beyond what the Net Promoter Score can offer.
Yet here we are in February 2023, roughly 13 years from publication, and I wonder if an update is appropriate. Do consumers need more choices in fitness equipment, beauty technology, and non-alcoholic beverages? Probably not. The recumbent bikes at the gym are perfectly acceptable, a hair dryer needs to dry hair, and a Heineken® 0.0 is a welcome choice during Dry January.
But there are differences in what consumers need and want, and we know they expect to be delighted by the products they choose to purchase.
Consumers are increasingly discerning in their purchase choices with so many competitive products in the market. Businesses have increased pressure to articulate their value across customer channels and create customer touchpoints that connect the customer to their brand. We know that branding is pivotal to product success and that brands creating community delight customers in a way that unites them.
Perhaps this is a result of the pandemic, but we are seeing an increased need for social experiences that connect customers to the brand, and each other, regardless of time or place.
These social experiences are touchpoints in the customer journey, one way to develop customer champions.
Addressing Underrepresentation in Craft Beer Communities
My favorite example right now is Athletic Brewing Co. First discovered at a running festival four years ago, I was a skeptic. How can a non-alcoholic brew delight athletes after 13.1 or 26.2 hard-earned miles? How can it replace a craft brew at a favorite watering hole?
And yet it will be my beverage of choice this Super Bowl Sunday. Beyond training for a half-marathon this spring, I am inspired by what the company stands for and want to be part of its community.
Not only does the brand understand its target market of athletes, but it also creates communities and shared social experiences around its products.
Black artists designed the can art, Black brewers crafted the beer, and the company is donating 100% of Soul Sour’s profits to impact programs serving the Black community. As brewing team member Dontrel Flathers shares,
We are all equal, and this brew we crafted collectively helps give ‘soul’ to the community, encouraging unity, opportunity, and respect.
As an Athletic Brewing Co. customer, I find this inspiring. It makes me proud to choose them as my non-alcoholic brew and speaks to me in ways other brands aren’t. Their products are differentiated and empower me to take part in their mission.
This is what being customer-centered is all about. And it doesn’t happen overnight. It takes time, effort, and a ton of empathy to learn what it takes to create loyal customers and develop customer champions. Seeing the world as your customer does and addressing their unmet needs is what’s required, and a great way to get started is with a customer journey map.
Inspired to learn more? Join Chief Customer Officer Mary Ann Bianco and me on March 8, 2023, for Business Bites with HanaHaus in Delighting Customers: Using Customer Journey Maps to Meet Growth Objectives.
Shelley Iocona is the founder of ON ITS AXIS, an award-winning innovation consulting firm helping organizations with new venture acceleration through its product and people® solutions. As an emerging fund manager at 360 Venture Collective, Shelley is committed to investing in, advising, and accelerating historically underestimated startup founders building in the fin-tech, health-tech, prop-tech, and future of work sectors.
