You can see the cracks in their hull. You hear the groan under the weight of their success. You can even imagine Steve Jobs punching out a flippant millennial for shrugging his blue T-shirted shoulders. The lesson here? If your brand promise is excellence and you deliver on that brilliance then you can never fall short or your customer may tell others – a lot of others... (cue Jaws soundtrack).
Apple has a leak, yet the warning bells sound more like a Junior High percussionist giving a delicate “ting” to his triangle. They aren’t sinking but a crack can turn into a big titanic hole pretty quickly.
Leading up to their dazzling product roll outs, Apple made the bold move to have Apple Stores around the world. They reached out to their customers with the “Try it. You’ll like it,” puppy-dog close. They made an even bolder statement and branded each on-site tech support person as a “Genius.” Apple promises you a genius. You walk in their store with a problem. You expect a genius. In the past you got an Apple Genius. Last Monday, you walked out telling everyone you know “Some Genius just left me dumbfounded and angry.”
If you and your company provide a gold standard product or service – you have set the minimum expectation in your customers’ mind to deliver excellence.
If you have an iPhone 5, you may be experiencing an infuriating problem. Your smart phone has turned into a stupid phone. It drains battery power in less than four hours with or without usage.
Two trips to the Apple Store, a Genius finally replaces the phone (expensive insurance may have paid off). But, the same battery drain problem exists. You spend hours on the phone, money out of your pocket to pay for certified Apple specialist advice. You spend your limited time and expensive gas on another trip to explain the problem with no solution. ‘Some Genius’ in a blue T says he doesn’t know what to tell you, followed by a shrug of his shoulders.
“So the solution is -- I get to stay frustrated?”
Shrug number two.
You walk out of the Apple Store. Every other positive experience you've had at the Apple Store has been erased with just a couple of shrugs. Your seething disappointment is eventually replaced by the hope the restaurant you’re headed to has a spare outlet near your table. At lunch, you hope you can charge your iPhone as it limps along on less than 5% battery power.
If you set a high expectation in your customer’s mind,
then you may have set your minimum standard of delivery -
which might be out of reach.
Yes – exceed your customer’s expectations when you can. They will think you're a genius. Then be keenly aware of meeting your customer’s elevated expectations from then on.
If not, your customer will be telling 25,000 people “Some Genius really blew it last Monday.”
(PS. I love Apple Inc. and my story may be anecdotal. My intention of writing this story is for you to carefully watch your own business and it's dedication to excellence.)
