The 1 THING needed to increase Customer Engagement

Monday Night Football, 2-Dec-13.

While cheering their team to a lopsided victory over another of the league's elite teams, the fans at the Seattle Seahawks game generated 137.6 decibels of pure, unadulterated crowd noise. The stadium shook - literally shook - with noise. 

137.6 decibels. That sounds like a lot. 

• 90dB: sustained exposure = permanent damage
• 125dB: pain begins 
• 140dB: short exposure = permanent damage
• 194dB: the loudest sound possible.

137.6 is a lot. 

OK, so we can comfortably say it is scientifically loud. But how loud is it really? 

While cheering on their team, and simultaneously setting a Guiness World Record with their cacophony, the fans also accidentally caused an earthquake.

An earthquake. 

A seismometer at nearby University of Washington registered between 1 and 2 on the Richter scale. 

Now, if you want to be technical, the United States Geological Survey refers to readings of 2 and below as micro-earthquakes since they are not commonly felt by people. But still.....an earthquake.

So what's the point?

The point is this:

Any corporate brand can gush over the loyalty of its customers. 

Any sports team will rave about having the best fans in the world. 

But according to the Guiness Book only the Seattle Seahawks can definitively claim to have the loudest fans. Add that to the effect the extreme stadium noise has on their opponents, and Seattle can make a pretty solid argument for having "The Best" fans.

The trajectories follow parallel paths. 

Seattle's fans weren't always this vocal. 

And the Seahawks weren't always one of the league's elite teams. 

The Seahawks focused on improving their customer service by fielding an exciting and successful team. 

The fans focused on improving their brand loyalty by selling out the home games and screaming until they were hoarse. 

And as the fans got louder,

• The Seahawks won more consistently
• Revenues went up
• Resources for better players went up
• Number of wins went up
• Seats sold went up
• Crowd noise went up
• Beer sales went up
• Revenues went up. 

A virtuous success cycle.

WestJet rode that same success cycle this December with their Christmas Miracle promotion. 

In case you missed it, a Westjet Santa asked outgoing passengers in Toronto what they wanted for Christmas. By the time the travellers got to Calgary they were greeted with individually wrapped and tagged presents on the luggage carousel. 

The video documenting it received 13,000,000 views in the first seven days online! 

Westjet's fans cheered until they were hoarse.

Be excellent. That's it.

It's not complicated: be excellent at what you do. 

Give your fans a reason to cheer. 

Let your fans push you to greater heights. 

You won't have to listen hard to hear them roar. 

And when they roar, here is the phone number for the nice people at the Guiness World Record Book:  +44 (0)20 7891 4567

The way to a Customer's Heart....is through a Customer's Heart

The Airport is Emotional

The airport creates emotions. Doesn't it seem like everyone at the airport is in some heightened emotional state?

It's inevitable really:

• Parents dropping kids off for college...
• Wife picking up her husband from a sales trip...
• Kids heading out to backpack across Europe...
• Families relocating for a new job...

If you have travelled then you know the emotions evoked by these situations. 

The airport is emotional.

I was the airport today.

I was watching a traveller.

She was by herself.

Well dressed, composed, hesitant, middle aged.

Two large suitcases.

She was in a heightened emotional state.

As she approached the check-in line a WestJet attendant asked her if she would like to try the self-serve kiosk. 

She hesitated. 
"I would like to try. But only if somebody could help."
Her voice was just above a whisper. 

The airport was noisy. 

The young attendant leaned in to listen. He smiled warmly, his face softened. He touched her elbow and gently guided her to a kiosk.

My boy grabbed my elbow, "Daddy, I have to PEE!!"

Identifying urgent over interesting I walked away with my boy.

Minor Action, Major Impact

By the time I got back the traveller was checked in to her flight, her bags tagged, her face relaxed, her body language at ease.

I'm sure for the WestJet employees this was a minor interaction, just one of a hundred they would have today. For the traveller this was a big deal.

Experiences are emotional. 

Airports are emotional. 

That makes airports fertile ground for experiences.

Experiences are emotional. 

Think of any recent experience: the deeper the emotions it evoked in you, the more you experienced it. Either positively or negatively, the more you felt it the more you experienced it. 

Unemotional impassive events don't register with us; they blend together into a dull tableau and eventually fade into the background of our lives. 

But experiences - real experiences - leave us with a taste, a feeling, an indelible imprint on our very beings. They become a part of us.

The Way to a Customer's Heart

Now what does this have to do with a WestJet attendant assisting a solo traveller? 

When they first engaged she was in a heightened emotional state: nervous, tentative, unsettled. 

When they parted she was happy and relaxed. 

The attendant offered a mechanical solution to a mechanical problem, but in the process he also gave her resolution to her emotional uncertainty.

Honor the Emotional Crossroads

This traveller was at an emotional crossroad. 

But with a few authentically caring actions, an employee charted her emotional experience of the airport for that day. 

And likely ensured her next flight would also be on WestJet.

You can't fake that stuff.

The way to a customer's heart....

is through a customer's heart.