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"We're working on ways to Wow our customers."

It's a message I receive from a lot of subscribers to the Customer Service Tip of the Week, my free weekly email.

My surprising advice?

Forget about wow. Focus on being consistently good instead.

I first learned this lesson from a mentor many years ago. His advice helped me understand there were at least three problems with constantly striving to go the extra mile.

Here's why consistently good is so much better.

What is a customer service wow?

Wow customer service is an experience that exceeds the customer's expectations. It might literally leave them saying, "Wow," or create such a positive impression that they can't wait to tell their friends about it.

There are three basic outcomes in any customer service interaction:

• Good service is when the experience meets expectations.

• Poor service is when the experience falls short of expectations.

• Great service is when the experience exceeds expectations.

It's the customer who ultimately decides if service is good, poor, or great. The big challenge is individual customers have different expectations. So a wow for one customer might be ho-hum for another.

There are a few more caveats that you can learn about in this short video.

Three problems with trying to wow customers

Trying to wow customers sounds good in theory, but in practice is can cause several problems and ultimately lead to service failures. Here are three of the most common.

1. High chance of failure

A group of coworkers took their boss to a fancy restaurant to celebrate the boss's upcoming retirement. They called the restaurant ahead of time and ordered a cake to be brought out for dessert.

The restaurant host, eager to wow, agreed to arrange for the cake to be made and delivered for dessert. This wasn’t part of the restaurant’s normal procedure, so it involved going the extra mile to order the cake and make sure the server delivered it to the table for dessert.

Unfortunately, the cake never got made. The coworkers discovered the problem when the unsuspecting server presented the table with dessert menus after the meal.

What was supposed to be a big surprise turned into a big disappointment.

Going for a wow involves risk. Stretching to delight a customer can cause the basics to get overlooked. There's a good chance that trying to wow a customer will backfire and cause a service failure.

You can see wow-induced service failures in other places.

A contact center agent spent extra time on the phone with each customer, building rapport and answering every question. Many customers ended the phone call feeling like they had just had a long chat with an old friend.

And it was a long chat. Other customers had to spend extra time waiting on hold because the agent took twice as long per call as her peers.

Here's one more example.

A car wash decided to surprise customers with free air freshener, which was normally an add-on item. This backfired and annoyed customers who didn't like the smell!

2. Today’s wow is tomorrow’s expectation

The online retailer, Zappos, faced this challenge. It used to "Wow" customers by automatically upgrading ground shipping to two-day air. Customers would be wowed when they got their orders faster than expected.

Regular customers soon came to expect their orders to be upgraded to two-day air. This left them no incentive to pay the extra fee customers would normally pay.

A wow loses its impact the second time you do it. It becomes something customers expect because you've done it before. Now you have to do something different to wow customers again.

You might even upset customers if you don’t do it.

A hardware store offered customers free bags of popcorn. It was a conversation starter and a nice treat until one day the popcorn machine was gone. Customers were upset to learn the hardware store didn’t have the necessary health permits to serve food and were required to stop giving away popcorn.

One of my favorite stories about a wow backfiring comes from my book, Getting Service Right:

Steve was the parking operations manager for a large sports stadium. One day, he bought donuts for his employees as a way to recognize their hard work and great customer service. The donuts were such a hit that he bought them again before the next game. This soon became a tradition, and Steve brought in dozens of donuts every time there was an event.

Steve's employees were initially delighted by the donuts, but they soon learned to expect them every time. Some employees got discouraged if they didn't get their favorite variety, while others got upset with coworkers who made off with more than their fair share. A few employees even complained that they only received donuts but never bagels or other pastries.

The end result for Zappos, the hardware store, and Steve, is the impact of the wow was lost once the wow became an expectation.

3. Wow doesn't pay

You've probably heard a customer proclaim they've become a customer for life after being wowed. What might surprise you is this rarely happens. Customers who are wowed are no more loyal than customers who just get good service.

Matt Dixon co-authored a book called The Effortless Experience that shared the results of research Dixon and his colleagues conducted. They discovered that it doesn't pay to surprise and delight customers.

You can hear Dixon describe the findings himself in this interview.

Why consistently good is the new wow

Customers do business with companies they trust. The best way to build trust is to be consistently good. That means doing what you say you will do, every time.

In-N-Out Burger is my favorite fast food chain.

Most people who try an In-N-Out burger for the first time agree it's pretty good. It's not a life-changing, world-altering, epiphany-inducing experience. It's pretty darn good.

Where In-N-Out wins legions of loyal fans is it's remarkable consistency. Its burgers really are better than most other fast food burgers. Employees are consistently cheerful and friendly, and the facilities are consistently clean.

And unlike most fast food places, In-N-Out consistently gets my order right. In fact, after going 1-2 times per month for over 20 years, I can only count two mistakes.

One was a leaf of lettuce on my burger (I prefer no lettuce). The other was four orders of fries when I had ordered two. (Yay, extra fries!)

That type of consistency is absolutely incredible.

Think about the businesses you know and love. There's a good chance they consistently do something very well.

Resources

Are you ready to begin your quest for consistently good? Here are a few resources that can help you get there.

Customer Service Tip of the Week: Anyone can sign up to receive these weekly tips. They're designed to help you keep your skills sharp by reminding you about the fundamentals.

Customer Service Foundations: Build your customer service skills with this course on LinkedIn Learning. It covers all you need to know to consistently deliver good service.

The Guaranteed Customer Experience: This book is a guide to winning and retaining customers simply by keeping your promises.