Robust is a super cool word. It means strong, vigorous, and full-bodied. But, in the hands of our 9½-year-old grandniece, Harper Jane, it has a more majestic meaning and provides a powerful lesson for creating value-unique customer experiences. Here is the backstory.
Once in a while, Harper fires off a text to us. Entirely out of the blue we can get a text that reads, “How are you today?” or “It’s Harper, are you having fun?” You can’t ignore such supreme cuteness. This week’s serendipity message read, “It’s Harper, we’re in our new house. It’s really good…and robust, ha ha ha.” It was apparent she was trying out a brand new word. We laughed about her text for the rest of the day.
Customer experience expands to an encounter that is memorable and magnanimous (see, she has me doing it) when service providers boldly go in new directions. These risky exchanges are opportunities to treasure hunt, turning ho-hum into golly-gee-whiz. It is smile material for dark times. It is a twice blest opportunity to lift the spirits of the giver and the receiver. We were as charmed as Harper was pleased with her word adventure and written laughter.
Robust Harper-style can take the form of an unexpected trusting gesture. When a customer was checking out of the grocery store and discovered she had forgotten her wallet, the clerk quickly said, “I see you in here every week. I’ll write your name and the amount on a slip of paper, and you can pay us the next time you come in.” It can be a whimsical addition, like the large colorful gumball machine and bowl of shiny pennies in the foyer of Miller Brothers Men’s Wear placed there solely for junior’s enjoyment while dad tries on trousers. It can be the generosity of the auto repair shop owner who was out of loaners and told me, “Take my car” and handed me his keys.
Robust is more than a strong, full-bodied feature. It can be the guidance to take a customer’s experience to new heights by using the courage to be inventive, coupled with the joy of creating magical moments. Follow Harper Jane’s lead to create value-unique customer experiences in entirely new forms.