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Lasting Impressions

NASE Members Know How To Wow Customers
By Jan Norman

When Apple Inc. introduced the iPhone, even electronics pros were wowed by the easy-to-use touch screen and tens of thousands of applications that made the smart phone more useful.

First-time visitors to Disneyland and Disney World are wowed by the cleanliness compared with run-of-the-mill amusement parks.

Nordstrom department stores continue to wow customers with a level of personalized service, knowledge of their needs and attention to detail.

Think about your favorite store or service provider. You can probably name something each one does that separates it from the crowd. They may even have made you say wow from time to time.

Now think of your own micro-business. How do you give your customers a fantastic experience that makes them
say wow?

The answer is important, because many times, it’s the wow factor that creates customer loyalty, leads to word-of-mouth marketing and builds your brand.

What Is The Wow Factor?
“The wow factor, definitely an intangible element, is unique to every particular business,” says Hilary Kaye, president of HKA Inc. Public Relations in Tustin, Calif.

“It is something that sets it way apart from its competitors and makes customers want to tell others all about it. I find myself saying wow when a company does something completely unexpected in a good way.”

NASE Member Mike Samson is co-founder of crowdSPRING, an Internet marketplace for graphic design based in Chicago, Ill. He describes the wow factor in terms of things or actions that differentiate a business from competitors.

“What makes a company, its offering or service significantly different that opens my eyes wide and makes my mouth form an O? It’s pretty rare,” he says.

“I have an iPhone; that’s a wow product because no one had done anything like it.”

NASE Member Deena Galanti, owner of Fresh Start consignment store in Kennebunk, Maine, identified one more element of the wow factor: “To me, it is anything that causes a positive reac...