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People love talking about those rare moments when companies make someone’s day or, even better, when they save the day. It’s all about the small stuff, like amazing customer service experiences, and the big stuff, like doing something remarkable for a cause.
Here are some examples from a big tech company, a baseball team, and a waiter:
1. Use your powers for good
2. Show your competition love
3. Train and empower your employees
1. Use your powers for good
Photo thanks to Mashable.
When devastating Typhoon Yolanda hit the Philippines, it left hundreds of thousands of people looking for their friends and families. To help, Google used their resources to map out safe places and gather information about missing people. When natural disasters happen, we hear all kinds of stories of companies coming to the rescue for people in need — mostly through donations. This heroic move by Google stands out as a thoughtful way to use what they have to make a life-saving difference.
2. Show your competition love
Photo thanks to Adweek.
Being kind and gracious to your competition is much more remarkable than ignoring them (or worse, bashing them) in front of your fans. For example, when the Boston Red Sox beat the Cardinals in the World Series they wrote a letter “From one great baseball town to another” for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. The letter thanked the town and team for their hospitality during the game saying the Cardinals “represent everything that’s great about baseball.” This act of sportsmanship earned them tons of love from both Red Sox and Cardinals fans on the Post-Dispatch‘s Facebook page.
3. Train and empower your employees
People are used to hearing “Is something else OK?” when a restaurant doesn’t carry the drink they ordered. No big deal. But at Mark’s Burgers in Greenville, South Carolina, when one man just settled for water after trying to order a Dr. Pepper, the waiter made it a big deal. He came back minutes later with a Dr. Pepper he bought at the CVS down the street. That’s amazing. So amazing that Brains on Fire’s Robbin Phillips, who witnessed the moment, wrote a blog post about it. Are your employees trained to spot wow moments like this? Do they feel comfortable enough to do something about them?
