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From plot twists in their favorite show to the prize in the bottom of the cereal box, people love talking about the unexpected. You can earn some of that excited word of mouth by catching your customers off guard in delightful ways.
Here’s how:
1. Make a memorable experience
2. Make someone smile
3. Make your stuff stand out
1. Make a memorable experience
Everyone loves fresh cookies, but bar patrons at midnight might love them most. So when the staff at Scofflaw, a cocktail restaurant in Chicago, start handing out warm chocolate chip cookies every night at midnight, you can imagine the sense of endearment the whole bar feels. It’s unexpected, it’s nice, and it’s the kind of customer experience that folks tell their friends about.
2. Make someone smile
You don’t have to be as cool as a cocktail bar to surprise and delight your fans. Sometimes all it takes is being a thoughtful listener. For example, after one young customer told a dentist at Georgetown Pediatric Dentistry she had a dance recital coming up, they sent her a care package for her feet and a good luck note. The kid’s mom was so happy, she wrote them a glowing five-star review on Google, even saying they felt like a part of the Georgetown Pediatric Dentistry family.
3. Make your stuff stand out
Jones Soda Co. is famous for the fan-submitted photos they feature on their packaging — it makes a normal, everyday part of their business into something exciting. But recently, they’ve added another surprise worth talking about. On the bottoms of some Jones Soda packages, customers have found this note, surrounded by signatures from employees: “These are all the people who could have spit in your soda but didn’t.” This tiny change in their already cool packaging adds an element of surprise that highlights the people behind it (and sometimes becomes a popular story on Reddit).
