Small gestures are the ones that matter the most and make the biggest impact. These are the unexpected little things in life that come out of the blue and smack you right in the heart. Silly little things like a hand written thank you note, a happy thoughtful note left on your door by a neighbor or a friendly “thinking of you email.
Companies that recognize the value of the little things tend to attract and retain extremely loyal (and vocal) customers.
Here are just a few examples of companies that really understand the impact of the small, unexpected gesture….
- Zappos built a culture based on surprise or, as they called it, WOW. They create WOW by giving customers free upgrades to overnight shipping and building a culture before a business.
- I remember getting warm fuzzies hearing that Disney had left milk and cookies in Scott Stratten’s fridge when he was visiting with his son. He was so surprised he tweeted about it to share with others.
- Coca-Cola got a lot of praise with its Happiness Machine a couple of years ago.
Each of these small gestures got attention because they came at a time when the recipient was not expecting them. And because they came out of the blue they were remembered.
I have a great way to incorporate the “little gesture” into my business and you can use in your business too.
If you’ve ever left a comment on our blog here at OSP you’ve seen our Thanks For Commenting page. The page is pretty simple. We used Yoast Comment Redirect plugin to redirect new commenters to a hidden page. We use this page to thank new commenters for becoming part of our community, formally invite them to keep hanging out with us, and then offer some more social ways to stay in touch.
People love this page because they weren’t expecting it and because it’s warm. What normally happens when you leave your first comment on a new blog… a big fat NOTHING happens. Maybe you’re taken to a page that says your comment was accepted or has been placed in moderation. How boring and BLAH . What a waste. This is a prime opportunity to keep the relationship going. On our blog we have created a way to thank people for spending their time with us and to encourage them to keep doing it. We have tried to do it in a way feel natural and open.
The page surprises people. And people like small surprises. They like it when you do the little things that show you’re paying attention and that you care. Surprise your audience by appearing where they wouldn’t expect you, making the little things big, and going further than your business has to. Our personalized Thanks for Commenting page is just one way that OSP tries to do that.
What are you doing to surprise and connect with your audience? What little “gifts” do you lay out for people to find? What have you seen other sites do that you want to emulate? I’d love it if you’d share some in the comments today.