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Wowing Customers
The Most-misguided Management Concept of the Century
Author: John Correll       Publisher: Correll Consulting, LLC       www.correllconcepts.com       Published: March, 2007

Check out company creeds, management books, business courses and seminars – what one thing do you find everywhere?

It's the admonition “Wow your customers!” Or, the expanded variation “Exceed your customer's expectations.”

Of course, the true believers of this concept aren't talking about wowing a customer or exceeding expectations just once. Nosiree – they'd have us do it every time.

Some companies have even elevated the concept to the highest order – the mission statement.

OUR MISSION: To exceed every customer's expectations every time.

Woweee! that's impressive-sounding. Even smacks of nobility. Only the smartest, most insightful, highest-intentioned executive or business owner would have such a lofty mission. Right?

Started in the 1980s, the wow-the-customer, exceed-expectations concept has grown to become the most loudly-proclaimed, universally-accepted notion of the business world. The way consultants and company execs speak of it, you'd think that it's the panacea for all business ills. Or, at least the final answer to building sales, buyer loyalty, and customer satisfaction. You'd even be led to believe that it's something brilliant, correct, and useful.

Over the years, what has puzzled me in all this is: No one – to the best of my knowledge – has ever challenged it. No one has posed just a few basic questions, such as: Do customers really want to be wowed (or to have their expectations exceeded)? When they're wowed, do they actually enjoy it? Do some customers not enjoy it? Does wowing customers cause them to become more loyal, or might it cause some to become less loyal? Does wowing customers really produce a competitive advantage, or cause customers to select a business over its competition? Could wowing customers actually drive some customers away? Are there other aspects of the service experience that customers rate higher, or prefer more, than being wowed? Is there any organizational downside to wowing customers? Is there an organizational downside to even trying to wow customers? Is wowing every customer every time, or exceeding every customer's expectations every time, achievable? If it's not achievable, should it be our company mission or overriding objective?

I'm amazed that in the last 25 years of the wow-the-customer, exceed expectations movement not a single voice has risen to challenge it. What further compounds my amazement is, I happen to view this concept as the most misguided, stupidest, counterproductive notion in the business world today.

So, now that I've peed on management's sacred cow and blasphemed before the gods of business wisdom, it's incumbent on me to support my contention.

Accordingly, here are three reasons why I view the wow-the-customer, exceed-expectations concept as being the most-misguided management movement of the 20th (and now 21st) century.

Why Wow-the-customer is a Misguided Concept

REASON 1 – Customers don't want it, don't even care about it. In spite of 25 years of “Wow your customers” exhortations by business world pundits, I believe that virtually no customer actually wants to be wowed or to have their expectations exceeded. And, further, I believe that when they do have their expectations exceeded, it has virtually no impact on their psyche or on their future buying decisions. How do I know this? From three avenues: (1) from my experience as a buyer, (2) from my experience in buyer research, and (3) from my experience in just living.

First, my personal experience as a buyer. I've been a business customer for many years. I've bought many things, shopped at many places. Plus, my wife and I eat out six nights a week. We've been doing it for a couple decades. Every time, before we head out, we ask ourselves “Where should we go tonight?” You know what – never once in the thousands of times that we've made the decision of where to eat have we made that decision based on being wowed or having our expectations exceeded. NOT ONCE! Being wowed, having expectations exceeded, is moot. It's a non-issue. We consider many factors in making our restaurant selection decision – proximity, menu offering, pricing, ambiance, cleanliness, noise level, staff friendliness, and the quality of food and service during our prior visit. But, being wowed, or having been wowed at a prior visit, has NEVER arisen as a factor in our restaurant selection process. Not once in 3000+ times!

Second, eons ago – back in the early 1990s – I spent time conducting market research for businesses, including pizza companies. For this research we conducted thousands of in-depth buyer surveys. These surveys probed into the factors that drove the business selection process. Interviewees cited numerous factors. But, never – not even once – did a person cite the factor “I go there because the business wows me; it exceeds my expectations.” Not once did anyone say “I wish that businesses would wow me, or exceed my expectations.” It didn't happen even once!

Third – like everyone else, I've just hung around. As a friend, a family member, a neighbor, a co-worker, a manager, a business owner, I've been hanging around for over a half century. In that time I've talked with people on thousands of occasions. And, you know what? Never – not even once – in all my conversations have I heard someone say “I go to such-and-such place because they exceed my expectations” or “I recommend such-and-such place because they've exceeded my expectations” or “where can we go tonight to get our expectations exceeded?” or “I love being wowed and having my expectations exceeded.” Not only has there been no discussion of the concept of being wowed, no one has even referenced it! I haven't heard the words “wow a customer” or “exceed expectations” uttered by anyone ... excepting, of course, by the consultants and business executives who've been living in this make-believe world.

So, what do I conclude? It's this. Being wowed is a non-issue, a moot concept. Most of all, it's a fantasy concept. The notion that customers actually want to be wowed or to have their expectations exceeded is a concept either divorced from reality or devoid of reality – take your pick.

REASON 2 – The wow-the-customer mantra actually detracts from delivering what customers really want. That's right. Not only is trying to wow the customer pointless and non-productive, it's actually counterproductive. “How could this possibly be?” you ask. It's because, exhorting employees to wow customers takes employees' eyes off the ball. It diverts attention from doing what really matters, from achieving what customers really want. So, what do most people want? The answer is simple and obvious. Most people want a no-turnoff experience. Oh, I know, shooting for a no-turnoff customer interaction sounds like settling for the dregs. As such, no self-respecting business consultant, author, professor, seminar speaker, or executive would deign to touch it. None would consider it a worthy business activity, a topic worth discussing, a program worth heralding, a goal worth pursuing.

Why would that be? It's because, business leaders and pundits like to view themselves as forward thinkers, pursuers of worthy causes, aspirers to great heights, caretakers of noble enterprises. So, which concept best lends itself to fulfilling that self-image? Is it the concept of delivering a no-turnoff experience OR is it the concept of delivering a wow-filled, exceeds-all-expectations experience? Obviously, the former concept does nothing to fulfill the self-image of a typical business consultant, speaker, author, executive. The reason: This concept is elemental – it's a blue-collar, red-neck concept.

But the second concept, now that's a different matter. Admonishing businesses to wow customers, that's a calling. That's something that consultants and professors can take pride in proclaiming. That's something that can feed any executive ego. Indeed, the concept of “exceeding everyone's expectations every time” smacks of god-like-ness. Who could possibly fulfill such an aspiration, other than God? Who would even dare dream of it, other than God ... or, of course, someone given to believing that s/he has a special connection therewith?

Am I saying that many business leaders are out of touch with reality as regards how businesses should be relating to customers? Yes - that's exactly what I'm saying. For the last 20-some years, these folk have been exhorting company employees to “wow customers and exceed everyone's expectations every time.” In actuality, what customers really want, what matters most to them, is having a no-turnoff experience every time.

Given this, it's my contention that business leaders, consultants, authors, speakers, professors should be dedicating about one hundred times more time and energy into promoting and actualizing the concept of consistent no-turnoff customer experience than in promoting the concept of the wow-the-customer, exceed-expectations-every-time experience. The no-turnoff experience is what customers want, indeed, beg for; the wow experience they couldn't care less about.

REASON 3 – The exceed-customer-expectations concept erodes the company's credibility with employees. The credibility that a company or its leadership has with its employees is critical. When employees believe that company leadership knows what it's doing, they tend to follow that leadership. When they believe that company leadership does not know what it's doing, they tend to not follow company leadership.

So, what is it that determines which way employees believe? When company leadership sets goals, policies, priorities that employees perceive as being meaningful, the leadership has credibility with the employees. Conversely, when leadership sets goals, policies, priorities that employees perceive as being meaningless, pointless, or stupid, the leadership does not have credibility with employees.

Now, here's the question: Is the concept of exceeding every customer's expectations every time a meaningful concept? OR, conversely, is it meaningless concept? Which way do you believe the majority of employees in any company would answer that question? Meaningful concept, or meaningless concept?

That's right, in your heart you know exactly how they would answer it. That's because, if you were in their place you would answer it exactly the same way. The notion that any company or any employee should or could exceed every customer's expectation every time is meaninglessness to the max. It's as meaningless as talking to the clouds, as pointless as shooting spitballs at an elephant, as stupid as diving in the ocean for squirrels.

Do you still cling to the notion that the wow-the-customer, exceed-expectations-every-time concept is viable and meaningful? If so, then let's bring the situation home. The way to do that is to make it personal. If it's possible for an employee to exceed a customer's expectations every time, then, logically, it's possible for anyone – including YOU – to exceed anyone's expectations every time. Good for the goose, good for the gander. So, let's consider a couple scenarios – each being no less bizarre than expecting an employee to exceed each customer's expectations every time.

SCENARIO 1: When you go home tonight, your spouse or significant other informs you: “Henceforth, I want you to exceed my expectations every time we meet, or at least once each day.” What would your response be? Would you deem that to be a realistic, meaningful concept and expectation? Or, what if s/he informs you: “Henceforth, I want you to exceed my expectations every time we have sexual relations.” Again, would you regard that to be a realistic, meaningful concept or expectation? If not, why do you regard the concept of employees exceeding each customer's expectations every time to be realistic and meaningful?

SCENARIO 2: Your employees come to you with a simple request. They say: “Henceforth, every time we have an interaction with you we'd like you to exceed our expectations as our boss. That is, every time we meet we'd like you to be more inspiring than before. Every time you make a decision we'd like it to be a better decision than the one before. Every time you give directions, we'd like those directions to be clearer and more compelling than the ones before. Every time we have a meeting, we'd like you to make it more interesting and exciting than the ones before. Every time you give a reward or dispense positive reinforcement, we'd like it to be something different from and better than before. Basically, boss, every time we interact with you, we'd like you to exceed our expectations by being ever-greater, ever-better, ever-more-inspiring and exciting than before.” What would your response be to that? Would you deem it to be a realistic, meaningful concept or expectation? Of course you wouldn't – you'd either laugh it off or blow it off. So, why do you regard the concept of employees exceeding every customer's expectations every time to be realistic and meaningful?

What We Really Need
Since the wow-the-customer, exceed-expectations concept is hogwash, what should businesses be doing instead? It's this.

Companies should dedicate their resources to creating consistent no-turnoff customer experiences. The goal should be to make at least 99 percent of customer transactions a no-turnoff experience. How do you know when a customer has a no-turnoff experience? It's when s/he answers each of the following three questions with an honest “yes.”

1) Are you fully satisfied with the PRODUCT you received?
2) Are you fully satisfied with the SERVICE you received?
3) Are you fully satisfied with the OVERALL BUYING EXPERIENCE?

When all three questions are honestly answered with a “yes,” the person is a satisfied customer. When at least one is answered “no,” the person is a dissatisfied customer. The goal should be to create at least 99 percent satisfied, or no-turnoff, customer experiences.

Why is this critical? Because, consistent no-turnoff customer experiences do the following: (a) build the loyal-customer base, (b) build repeat sales, and (c) build your advantage over your competition, in the minds of your customers. All this, in turn, builds overall sales and profitability.

Conversely, creating even a small percentage of turnoff customer experiences results in the opposite. That is, it creates a decline in loyal customers, repeat sales, and competitive advantage.

For years the wow-the-customer movement has been telling us that exceeding expectations is the key to building sales. I flat-out disbelieve it. The key, in my opinion, to building long-term sales does not involve increasing the number of wow experiences. Rather, it involves decreasing the number of turnoff experiences. Wow experiences don't do much to bring customers back. But turnoff experiences drive them away and keep them away, every time. In terms of sales-building impact, a turnoff is ten times more powerful than a wow, except in reverse. A no-turnoff experience both builds repeat customers and prevents defections. A wow experience does little of either.

A business that delivers zero wow experiences but 99 percent no-turnoff experiences will grow. A business that delivers a whopping 50 percent wow experiences but also, say, 10 percent turnoff experiences will shrink. The reason is, the 10 percent turnoff experiences will result in a 10 percent tryer-rejection rate. No amount of wowing can overcome the long-term negative impact of significant tryer-rejection.

In conclusion, before any business even thinks about exceeding customer expectations, it first should insure that at least 99 percent of its transactions fully meet customer expectations. And, right now, very few business are achieving that number. Putting one's focus on creating wow and exceeding expectations when more than one percent of customer transactions fail to even meet expectations is as misguided and counterproductive as going for a glass of water when one's house is on fire.

Why the Wow-the-customer Concept Exists in the First Place
At this point you must be wondering: “If the wow-the-customer concept is so far off the mark, why do we have it in the first place?” That's an excellent question. Here's the answer. The wow-the-customer movement exists because of these four factors.

First, it sells well. The reason it sells well is because it has a glamorous, high-minded ring to it. This, in turn, makes it a perfect product for the information purveying industry – or the many consultants, authors, and seminar-givers throughout the land. So, they sell it.

Second, it strokes the egos of company leadership. It does so by casting an aura of lofty, high-mindedness upon them. It puts them in a positive light. It makes him/her appear to be smart, insightful, well intentioned. In short, the wow-the-customer concept wears well. By comparison, the “no turnoff experiences” concept is plebian, almost mundane. Top executives deem it to be something so low that they believe that subordinates down the line should be dealing with it, not them.

Third, the wow-the-customer concept diverts attention from what's hard to do onto something that's easy to do. What's hard to do is create 99 percent no-turnoff customer experiences. What's easy to do is talk about exceeding every customer's expectations every time. This may sound incorrect, but read it again. You see, in the end, every company exec that champions the “exceed customer expectations” mantra never actually does anything regarding it. S/he never engages in any work regarding it. All s/he does is talk about it. And that's all s/he has to do. The reason for this is, exceeding customer expectations every time is an unachievable concept. So it never gets measured. And, since it never gets measured, the top exec is never held accountable for failure regarding it. So, essentially, the wow-the-customer movement is a cop-out. It's a diversion of attention from a failure to do what's most important. And, what's most important is: To create the management, the training, and the motivational systems and follow-through that produces at least 99 percent no-turnoff experiences. This happens to be the tough work. This is the nitty-gritty, nuts-and-bolts, down-and-dirty part of business management. It's also, because of its difficulty, the part that seldom gets done really well. This being the case, a strong propensity drives company leadership to ignore it and, in its place, promote abstract, non-measurable, unachievable, high-minded, impressive-sounding concepts that, in the end, accomplish nothing in way of building sales, customers, and customer satisfaction.

Fourth, the wow-the-customer concept rides a current trend in our society. This trend is, what we say is most important, not what we do or what we accomplish. The notion is, as long as our intentions are in the heavens, it doesn't matter all that much what actions we engage in or what results we achieve down on earth. Within this context, if we shoot for the stars but fail to reach them, we shouldn't be faulted for our failure because we did as good as we could in trying to attain a high-minded goal. Of course, no one addresses the fact that, sometimes shooting for the stars saps resources, attention, and credibility that could have been spent repairing the road under our feet. And, no one points out that it's the crumbling road under our feet that caused our ultimate failure, not our failed attempt to reach the stars. But, as long as the leader talks long and passionately about shooting for the stars, no one faults him or her for failure to improve the road on which travel. For many people, good intentions is good enough in our world today. If you have good intentions and a lofty mission, you shouldn't be held responsible for your mistakes, failures, or inaction. You shouldn't be held responsible for failure to improve the road. All is overlooked as long as one's intentions are high-minded and one displays passion in talking about them. Of course, there's probably no business concept today that embodies as much high-minded good intention as that of “wow-the-customer, exceed-expectations-every-time.” It's the ultimate in feel-good, aim-for-the-stars misdirection.