How to Surprise and Delight with Personalization.

Most brands completely underestimate the value of delivering an unexpected experience in an unexpected way.

A few years ago, my wife and I stayed at the Four Seasons in Beijing. Now, just so you know, I am not a Four Season’s member nor do I stay at their hotels often. This was my third stay with them and my first time in China.

When we arrived at the hotel, one of the staff members opened the door and greeted us face to face. “Welcome to the Four Seasons, Beijing, Mr. and Mrs. Hurni,” they said. The manager on duty was also nearby and she, too, greeted us by name. She handed my wife a dozen roses as a welcome gift. The manager continued to say that she had already checked us in and would show us to our room. We entered the room to find a towel sculpture display of two swans with rose pedals on the bed. The entire arrival experience blew us away.

Of course, as a marketer I had to ask how they pulled it off. After all, no one knew exactly when we would arrive. The manager was happy to answer my inquiry. She informed me that since I downloaded the Four Seasons app on my phone, they were able to set up a series of geofences which prompted them to take action at different stages.

The first geofence occurred when we left the airport, which sent a message to the front desk to check us in and prepare the room. The second geofence, a mile out from the hotel, sent a message to get the flowers. The parking lot of the hotel was the third and final geofence, which sent a message for the manager to greet us outside.

Most brands leave personalized experiences to chance. Few create a system to ensure they happen almost seamlessly.

One of our LighthousePE casino clients uses these types of personalized moments to receive a prompt when a high valued player enters the parking lot of their casino. A message is sent to a host so she can walk to the entrance and greet the player directly. Don’t underestimate the power of conversation.

Another personalized experience can occur when a top-rated player sits down at the bar. Their preferences are sent to the bartender so he can engage in conversation or offer the player their favorite drink on the house. Of course, all of this requires a very high level of customer training.

Human to human connections aren’t the only way to deliver a surprise and delight moment.

For many brands there isn’t enough time to reach out to customers through an employee. In the personal services space, such as day spas, the ability to surprise and delight a customer can come in the form of an unexpected deal for a little last-minute pampering. Ella Bliss Beauty Bar capitalizes on the behaviors of their customers when they send out a “deal of the day” to fill empty appointment times. My words, not theirs.

It works like this: When one of their locations has a slow day, they will send out a $5.00 off push notification from their LighthousePE behavioral platform. Those clients who receive the same services as the available appointment times open on that day are more encouraged to book a service. The value of getting a personalized message about a behavior you perform is captivating. But for the company itself, the proof is in the numbers. Last month, Ella Bliss filled 60 empty appointment slots — generating an additional $3,500. Not too bad for something which took 10 minutes to create and send.

Brands often spend too much time acting as if personalization is putting a name on a piece of communication.

While some brands personalize by adding your name on an email, others believe taking a product you looked at online and retargeting you with a discount for it is personalization. It could not be further from that. Companies like Amazon and Netflix are teaching brands what they believe true personalization is. They simply make recommendations from previous purchases or from the shows you have seen. That is customization.

Personalization is much more subtle and requires more thought. You have to ask yourself these kinds of questions:

What would be an unexpected experience at an unexpected time?

What can I deliver that aligns with their motivations and behaviors?

How can I make that experience unique to the individual?

The creation of those moments is exactly what will surprise and delight your customers. Those are also the moments which will lead to an incredible level of brand affinity.