As you know, along with my INDIE Business Book Club partners, I'm currently reading Tony Hsieh's Delivering Happiness. Chapter 5 details how Tony led Zappos's creation of the company's Core Principles, the first of which is Deliver WOW Through Service.
As I comb through Tony's book with my book club group, I am delving deep into the psyche of a successful CEO. I'm identifying the key building blocks of the company he built into one of the world's most successful and beloved. You know what I'm finding? It's not rocket science, but it does take hard work and a good team that is dedicated to creating WOW. Here's a first look at how I'm translating what I'm learning as my team and I continue to lead the INDIE Beauty Network.
- Be honest. I almost hate to include this because it's so obvious. Unfortunately, I see people behave dishonestly every day, even in public places like their FaceBook Pages where thousands of people are watching, and where a record of dishonesty is forever sealed into the time capsule of their lives. If you screw up, admit it. That alone will create WOW. Your supporters will go to great lengths to forgive, even applaud you, for your integrity.
- Be consistent. Life gets in the way, yes. Family members become ill, website designers go on hiatus, and you have products to make and people to manage. Still. If you have a newsletter, publish it regularly. If you have to skip a while, do that, but don't skip so long that you never ever get back to it.
Consistency is hard, and not everyone is committed to it, and that's why it makes WOW!
Consistency breeds familiarity. Your customers will only be as consistent as you are. If you want consistent business, you have to make WOW by being a consistent business owner.
- Be present. If you have a blog (and you should), don't let it be a ghost town. Be there enough to let your customers know you want them to join you there. This is a big WOW factor if for no other reason than it shows your dedication to putting yourself and your brand out there for your current customers and for the customers you will have in the future.
- Be decisive. Make tough decisions and then stick with them, even when you're afraid and even when others criticize you. Decisiveness makes WOW because so few people are decisive. An old proverb says that, “A double-minded man is unstable in all his ways.” So is a double-minded entrepreneur. Consider the options, make up your mind, and decide.
- Be fun. Perhaps this should really say, “Have fun,” because so many people don't have the confidence to say they “are” fun. Either way, the point is to have a good time and behave in ways that spread your happiness throughout your customer base. If you are making WOW for yourself, by default, you are also making it for your customers.
- Be teachable. No one knows everything. Allow people, even those with less experience than you, to teach you how to do things they are naturally good at. Always being willing to learn. Not only will you attract more customers, but you'll also learn more, and the more your know, the more WOW you'll make.
- Be humble. As a subset of being teachable, don't let a massive ego cloud your personality so much that people cannot appreciate who you are as a human being with faults, fears, and frailties. Yes, you can make WOW simply by being your humble, approachable self.
By the way, don't confuse an overactive ego with confidence. This is the downfall of many an entrepreneur. There's a difference between, “I excel at this or that,” and “I can do better than everyone else at this or that.” A monstrous ego is unappealing and just plain yucky. Be a confident entrepreneur, not an egotistical one.
In addition to Tony's book, I also enjoyed reading about creating WOW at Michael Hyatt's blog.
Question: What WOW blog posts or articles can you share with us? What are your tips for making WOW? What do you think of mine? What did I leave out?
