With rising consumer expectations, customer delight is becoming the new standard in customer service. It’s that feeling of joy a customer feels when a company goes beyond meeting their needs, surprises, and impresses them.

There's no strict process for delighting every customer, but we know it’s more than checking off boxes on a customer service checklist. Truly delightful experiences are personalized and unexpected, leaving the customer feeling genuinely cared for.

How can you consistently exceed basic expectations and create memorable moments? We'll discuss practical ways to turn satisfied customers into delighted advocates of your brand, from streamlined service to special surprises.

What Is Customer Delight?

Customer delight boils down to giving customers an experience that exceeds their expectations. They feel joy when a brand goes above and beyond to make them feel valued, heard, and cared for.

Delighted customers feel an emotional connection to the brand, not just a transactional one. The experience stands out as memorable instead of ordinary. It fosters loyalty, word-of-mouth promotion, and repeat business.

Delight differs from satisfaction. Customer satisfaction means giving customers what they expect — a baseline of acceptable service that fulfills their needs. For example, a customer service rep who politely and promptly answers questions provides satisfactory service.

Customer delight takes it a step further by surprising customers with more than they expect. An enthusiastic rep who takes the time to understand the customer’s unique challenges gives delight.

The goal is to consistently transform feelings of satisfaction into feelings of delight through meaningful moments and experiences.

Who Is Responsible for Delighting Customers?

Delighting customers should involve everyone! Sales and marketing set expectations and make the first impression. They should focus on transparent communication and avoiding over-promising.

Customer service has opportunities to impress customers when issues arise. Empower reps to go above standard policies to resolve problems promptly and pleasantly.

Behind-the-scenes teams like billing, fulfillment, and tech support enable delight by making processes smooth and painless.

Leadership should strategize and invest in delight — prioritize it in policies, training, and culture.

You can’t delegate delighting customers to a single department. It's everyone's responsibility to identify moments of friction and opportunities to surprise and delight.

Why Customer Delight Matters

Customers who feel genuinely cared for and appreciated reward your brand with loyalty. Customer delight creates an emotional connection that satisfaction alone can’t match.

Here are more benefits to having a customer-delight standard:

1. Delighted Customers Become Loyal Advocates

Delighted customers become repeat purchasers, sources of referrals and word-of-mouth promotion, and enthusiastic fans. 

They'll look for ways to praise you on social media and recommend you to friends. Over 80% of American consumers said they would gladly recommend a company whose service they consider very good.

2. The More You Delight Customers, the More They'll Spend

Loyal, delighted customers spend more over time. A study found almost two-thirds of US consumers would pay 5% more for products if the customer service were outstanding.

They'll purchase upgrades and add-ons. They'll try more of your products and services when new offerings come out. Their lifetime value rises substantially.

3. Keeping Customers Happy Protects Your Reputation

Delighted customers are your brand ambassadors, not critics. By exceeding expectations, you minimize complaints. You turn customers into a marketing force that reinforces your desired brand image.

That image is crucial for business. When deciding whether to purchase, 66% of customers report that a significant influencing factor is the brand’s reputation for providing good customer service. 

10 Strategies for Delighting Customers

Customer delight doesn’t cost much. More than needing huge investments, it requires creativity and deep knowledge of your customers.

There are many ways to achieve delight unique to your business, but here are some strategies you can use to get started:

1. Surprise Customers with Meaningful Perks

Random acts of kindness that align with your customer's needs or interests can brighten their day.

Handwritten thank you notes, small gifts, discounts, or freebies related to their purchase go a long way.

For example, you can handwrite thank you notes when they advocate for you online. Doing so lets them know you see and appreciate them. It deepens that emotional connection.

2. Experiment with Different Surprises

Don't rely on a single tactic. Brainstorm fresh ways to surprise and delight. Keep iterating to find out what resonates most with your customers.

For example, you could surprise a loyal customer by inviting them to an exclusive product testing insider event for one month. But you shouldn't invite the same customer to monthly insider events — it will start losing its delight factor. 

Keep them guessing by alternating events with surprises like sneak peek content, concierge services, or early access to new features. Observe what delights each customer most and double down on those specific tactics.

3. Provide Timely Support

Providing fast, accurate resolutions through phone, email, chat, and social media make customers happy. Streamline internal processes to deliver prompt responses.

Investing in a CRM like HubSpot can help you achieve faster response times by automating repetitive workflows. For example, you can set up automation to immediately send self-help content when common issues arise.

By handling routine questions instantly through automation, your staff has more time to deliver thoughtful, customized support. A CRM also enables tracking SLAs across channels so you can catch and improve on delays.

4. Be Enthusiastic and Friendly

A warm, genuine tone and willingness to help put customers at ease. Train staff to sound upbeat, engaged, and eager to assist.

Encourage staff to have natural conversations that go beyond scripts. For instance, letting them sincerely compliment customers' businesses during calls rather than just pitching shows genuine interest and builds rapport.

5. Empower Your Team to Go Above and Beyond

Give employees the latitude to bend the rules or expend extra effort to resolve customer issues. They should feel they can think creatively about what each unique situation calls for. 

Sometimes, they should exceed standard procedures to surprise and delight customers with care and flexibility tailored to their needs.

For example, praise a sales rep who patiently spent 2 hours helping a senior customer understand a complex product. Recognize going above and beyond, even if it means fewer calls per day.

6. Personalize the Experience

Personalization is on top of the modern consumer’s list of service expectations. They want to feel known. Luckily, it’s easier to achieve with a robust CRM that stores all their data in one place.

Use data and feedback to tailor interactions. You can configure the CRM system to notify staff when existing customers have purchased again or have an upcoming renewal, then reach out thoughtfully.

You can also track customers' special dates like birthdays and anniversaries. Then, surprise them by acknowledging those events.

7. Reward Loyal Customers

Loyal customers make repeat purchases and referrals that fuel growth. That's why making them feel appreciated through exclusive rewards is critical. Even small perks reinforce that you value them.

It can be as simple as sending a handwritten thank you note when they renew their annual subscription. Or surprise repeat purchasers with a special discount code on their next order. 

The gesture shows you recognize and appreciate their loyalty. It encourages them to keep returning.

8. Listen to Your Customers

Customers can tell you what they need from you and what issues need fixing. Don't ignore them as a valuable resource. 

Solicit feedback through satisfaction surveys. Monitor social media closely for complaints and ideas. Then, take action by addressing concerns and implementing suggestions.

If multiple customers express frustration with your return process on Twitter, overhaul it to be simpler. You can even reply to their tweets! Let them know you heard them and will fix the problem. Listening and responding to feedback shows you have their best interests at heart.

9. Focus on the Customer’s Success

Make it your responsibility to ensure customers get the full value of your offerings. Guide them on best practices, share tips for overcoming common hurdles, and check in periodically on their progress.

You can send educational email newsletters to customers highlighting different ways to use your product's features. Or proactively reach out to offer recommendations when you notice low usage. 

Going beyond surface-level service demonstrates you're invested in their long-term success.

10. Solve Future Problems Before They Come Up

The most delightful experiences anticipate needs customers don't even realize yet. You likely have all the data you need to do this.

Study past support cases and common pain points. Then, act preemptively to address where customers typically struggle.

You could create online courses, FAQs, or Quick Start guides to educate customers proactively. Get ahead of problems so customers have little cause for complaints.

Deliver Customer Delight to Drive Success

Prioritizing customer delight can transform satisfaction into loyalty, turn one-time buyers into advocates, and protect your reputation. While delighting every customer every time takes commitment and creativity, the payoff makes it one of the smartest investments you can make.

Use the strategies discussed to identify opportunities to surprise and wow your customers. Track feedback and metrics to double down on what resonates most. 

When you consistently exceed expectations and create emotional connections, customers will reward you with their trust, passion, and lifetime value.

Turn Customer Delight Into Your Competitive Edge with HubSpot & Origin 63

To successfully provide moments of customer delight at scale, you need the right technology to support your team. HubSpot's all-in-one CRM platform centralizes all customer data and interactions to enable personalized, seamless experiences.

With Origin 63 as an implementation partner, you get end-to-end capabilities to track customer signals and facilitate delight. From automating loyalty programs to monitoring reviews, you can identify moments to wow customers faster and easier. 

With the right tools, you can strengthen customer bonds and outshine competitors. Contact Origin 63 today to learn more about enabling customer delight at your organization.