July 15, 2025 • 11 mins
Is “surprise and delight” really the secret to customer loyalty, or is reliability your real superpower? In this episode, we challenge one of CX’s biggest myths: that delight always wins.
Many brands, especially in B2B, utilities, or financial services, build trust not through flashy moments but through consistent, dependable service. We explore how neglected touchpoints, like billing or scheduling, can become powerful moments of emotional connection when approached with a bit of personality and care.
You’ll also learn how to build an “emotional bank account” that pays off during service hiccups, and why small, intentional improvements can be more impactful than chasing viral wow moments. Think TSA’s surprisingly fun social media presence as inspiration.
Tune in to rethink what really drives customer trust—and how your brand can strike the right balance between consistency and creativity.
Resources Mentioned:
Experience Investigators Website -- https://experienceinvestigators.com
What Are Micromoments & Why Are They So Important? -- https://experienceinvestigators.com/customer-journey-maps/tedx-jeannie-walters/
Download the free CX Mission Statement Workbook -- https://bit.ly/cx-mission-workbook
Want to ask a question? Visit askjeannie.vip to leave Jeannie a voicemail! (And don't forget to follow Jeannie on LinkedIn! www.linkedin.com/in/jeanniewalters/)
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
MC (00:00):
Experience Action.
Let's stop just talking aboutcustomer experience, employee
experience and the experience ofleaders.
Let's turn ideas into action.
Your host, jeanne Walters, isan award-winning customer
experience expert, internationalkeynote speaker and founder of
Experience Investigators, astrategic consulting firm
(00:20):
helping companies increase salesand customer retention through
elevated customer experiences.
Ready Set Action.
Jeannie Walters (00:31):
It's the Experience Action Podcast.
I'm here for your questions, sobuckle up, we've got a good one
.
Listener Question (00:38):
Hey Jeannie, this is Brian.
I hear a lot of talk aboutsurprise and delight in CX, but
in our business, just gettingthings right consistently seems
way more important.
Do you think every brand needsto shoot for delight, or is
reliable delivery enough in somecases?
Jeannie Walters (00:56):
Fantastic question, Brian, and I think
that this is one of those thingsthat has kind of taken over the
customer experience landscape.
We hear about things like weneed to surprise and delight and
assume that that applies toeverybody, all sorts of
organizations, whether you'reB2C or B2B or nonprofit or
(01:18):
anything else.
But I agree with you here,Brian, and I'm going to walk
through a few reasons why Idon't believe we have to
surprise and delight everysingle customer.
I don't believe that we canpromise those big wow moments
all the time, because that willlead to disappointment.
(01:38):
So how should we approach this?
Well, there is absolutely aplace for surprise and delight.
There is absolutely a placewhere it makes sense because we
as humans, we love pleasantsurprises.
We want to make sure we areempowering employees who are
able to deliver that, especiallyin industries like hospitality
or even in healthcare, placeslike that where we want people
(02:09):
to feel very cared forindividually.
That is really important.
However, when we are talkingabout customer experience, that
is the entire journey, right?
That is everything fromawareness through when they
become our biggest advocate orwhen they leave us, and when we
look at that journey, in someindustries, it's actually best
(02:33):
if our customer never reallythinks about us.
I'm thinking about some of theclients that we've worked with.
We've worked with utilitieslike gas, electric, and, you
know what, we tend not to thinkabout our providers of the
utility until there's a problemas a customer.
So we want to be as reliable aspossible, we want to be as
(02:58):
proactive as possible.
We want to make sure that ourcustomers are actually not
thinking about us.
That's the ideal scenario.
So when we think about thosethings and shift the lens a
little bit, we still want tolook at kind of reliability as
the absolute baseline.
When we are delivering what thecustomer expects in the way
(03:21):
that they expect it reliably,consistently and in a way where
they don't have problems, theydon't have service issues, that
is a win.
But we are all competing againstthe customer expectations that
are being set outside of ourindustries.
We all have those expectationsof immediate convenience.
(03:43):
We want to access theinformation that we want in the
channel that we want.
We want to be able to callsomebody or look at an app or go
online based on our preference.
So if we're not providing thosetypes of resources to really
meet those expectations, then wemight not be as reliable as we
(04:08):
might be telling ourselves.
So make sure when you thinkabout what does reliable
delivery mean that you're reallymapping that out.
You're thinking about what isthat?
Not just the basics, not justthe baseline of I'm giving you
exactly what you paid for, butare they able to access their
information?
Are they able to have clearunderstanding of billing and how
to pay?
Do they have access toschedules that might be
(04:31):
important to them?
One schedule we just talkedabout with a client was about
trash pickup, right?
So when there's a holiday andpeople think that their trash is
being picked up but it's not,that's very disruptive to them.
That's one of those serviceissues, even though technically
it's not a problem.
So, when you think about yourcustomer's journey, no matter
(04:55):
what it is, think about whatdoes it mean for them to see us
as reliable and consistent?
That's number one.
Next, I would say look at whatare those neglected moments?
I call them the meh moments.
Right, these are moments thatprobably don't really cause a
(05:15):
scene, but what if you couldmake them a little better?
For example, billing.
This is an issue everywhere.
Right, we have to bill ourcustomers.
We have to make sure that ourcustomers pay for the service or
product that we're providing.
But what if billing is painful?
What if they don't have theinformation at their fingertips
(05:40):
that they need?
What if they don't have controlover when they get billed?
What if they have a questionabout it?
If we are doing it just likeeveryone else has always done it
in the history of mankind, weare missing opportunities to
turn up the volume.
I call this over-indexing onthe positive moments so that
when things go wrong becausethey will you have trust in that
(06:02):
emotional bank.
You've built up thatrelationship.
They know they can trust you.
So look for the moments that youmight be neglecting in the
customer journey and think aboutcan we do this a little better?
Can we give our customers alittle more control?
Can we offer a moment ofdelight?
You know, a funny example ofthis lately is the TSA, the
(06:25):
airport security in the UnitedStates, their social media
recently they've been sendingout reminders, but the way
they're doing it is a littletongue-in-cheek, a little fun.
And so, as you get thesereminders, yes, you get the
information you need as acustomer, but you also have that
little moment of delight.
(06:45):
So, while it might not be a bigwow moment, they can't change
how they screen for security,right, they can't treat people
differently.
That's the whole point.
But with the reminders, withcommunication, they're turning
up the volume a little bit.
They're having a little fun,they're being more proactive,
more fun, and so that's creatingthat moment of surprise and
(07:07):
delight.
So, while I don't think it'snecessary to say, yes, everybody
has to aim for those big, hugemoments all the time, I do think
there's usually an opportunityto create those positive moments
that help somebody smile in anunexpected way.
But reliable customerexperience, that is,
(07:28):
consistently delivering what isexpected, that is absolutely
goal number one.
Because if you are not doingthe basics, if you are not
delivering on that, but hey,your social media is killing it,
nobody's going to care ifthey're a customer and they're
not getting what they want, infact, that could feel like, hey,
you're investing in the wrongplace, you're not getting this
(07:50):
right.
So if you are thinking aboutyour industry right now and
you're thinking, well, weactually don't want our
customers to think about us orwe don't have moments of delight
, we have just consistency.
Where on the journey could youover-index on the positive?
Could you make it moreconvenient?
Could you make it faster?
(08:11):
Could you offer a little momentwhere, through the language you
use or the imagery, or justeven training your people to
provide that moment of delight,provide a little humor, a little
fun.
That can all go a long, longway.
So I'm going to leave you withthis.
Number one, you are absolutelyright, prioritize consistency.
(08:32):
We want to make sure we aredelivering a consistent
experience that is not onlymeeting but hopefully exceeding
the expectations of ourcustomers all the time.
Consistency is what buildstrust, so we want to make sure
that we are consistent not justin what we say, but also how the
customer experiences theproduct or service that we
(08:54):
deliver.
I also want you to look forthose micro moments.
I have a whole TEDx talk onthis, but those micro moments
that could be neglected.
These are moments that maybeeverybody does it the same way
right now, today, you could tryto do it a little differently.
That's where you can findaccessible places in the journey
(09:15):
to really provide that littlemoment of delight, little moment
of surprise, and then, finally,leverage customer feedback.
What are your customers tellingyou about what they want?
Maybe they want a littlerefinement of something that you
offer.
Maybe they're saying, yeah,this is good, but this could be
a little better.
Really look for those and seeif you could adapt or make some
(09:37):
small changes that will reflectto your customers we heard you,
we're innovating, we are stayingahead, even if it's not a big,
huge wow moment.
So I hope this is helpful,because this is one of those
things that I hear a lot about.
People tell me all the time ohyeah, I'm really good at
surprise and delight.
It's the rest of my companythat's not.
(09:57):
Well, that's not a consistentexperience.
So let's make sure we geteverybody on the same page.
As we like to say, customerexperience is everyone's
business, so let's make sureeverybody's on the same page.
Have that North Star, talkabout what kind of experience
you want to deliver and thenlook for those moments where you
can over-index on the positiveso that you can always overcome
(10:19):
the negative.
Great question, keep themcoming.
You know I love these questions, don't forget.
You can ask me at any time ataskjeannievip.
That's Jeannie with two Ns.
All right, I cannot wait tohear from you again and we will
see you next time.
To learn more about ourstrategic approach to experience
(10:40):
, check out free resources atexperienceinvestigatorscom,
where you can sign up for ournewsletter, our Year of CX
program and more, and pleasefollow me, Jeannie Walters, on
LinkedIn.
Experience Action.
Let's stop just talking aboutcustomer experience, employee
experience and the experience ofleaders.
Let's turn ideas into action.
Your host, jeanne Walters, isan award-winning customer
experience expert, internationalkeynote speaker and founder of
Experience Investigators, astrategic consulting firm
(00:20):
helping companies increase salesand customer retention through
elevated customer experiences.
Ready Set Action.
Jeannie Walters (00:31):
It's the Experience Action Podcast.
I'm here for your questions, sobuckle up, we've got a good one
.
Listener Question (00:38):
Hey Jeannie, this is Brian.
I hear a lot of talk aboutsurprise and delight in CX, but
in our business, just gettingthings right consistently seems
way more important.
Do you think every brand needsto shoot for delight, or is
reliable delivery enough in somecases?
Jeannie Walters (00:56):
Fantastic question, Brian, and I think
that this is one of those thingsthat has kind of taken over the
customer experience landscape.
We hear about things like weneed to surprise and delight and
assume that that applies toeverybody, all sorts of
organizations, whether you'reB2C or B2B or nonprofit or
(01:18):
anything else.
But I agree with you here,Brian, and I'm going to walk
through a few reasons why Idon't believe we have to
surprise and delight everysingle customer.
I don't believe that we canpromise those big wow moments
all the time, because that willlead to disappointment.
(01:38):
So how should we approach this?
Well, there is absolutely aplace for surprise and delight.
There is absolutely a placewhere it makes sense because we
as humans, we love pleasantsurprises.
We want to make sure we areempowering employees who are
able to deliver that, especiallyin industries like hospitality
or even in healthcare, placeslike that where we want people
(02:09):
to feel very cared forindividually.
That is really important.
However, when we are talkingabout customer experience, that
is the entire journey, right?
That is everything fromawareness through when they
become our biggest advocate orwhen they leave us, and when we
look at that journey, in someindustries, it's actually best
(02:33):
if our customer never reallythinks about us.
I'm thinking about some of theclients that we've worked with.
We've worked with utilitieslike gas, electric, and, you
know what, we tend not to thinkabout our providers of the
utility until there's a problemas a customer.
So we want to be as reliable aspossible, we want to be as
(02:58):
proactive as possible.
We want to make sure that ourcustomers are actually not
thinking about us.
That's the ideal scenario.
So when we think about thosethings and shift the lens a
little bit, we still want tolook at kind of reliability as
the absolute baseline.
When we are delivering what thecustomer expects in the way
(03:21):
that they expect it reliably,consistently and in a way where
they don't have problems, theydon't have service issues, that
is a win.
But we are all competing againstthe customer expectations that
are being set outside of ourindustries.
We all have those expectationsof immediate convenience.
(03:43):
We want to access theinformation that we want in the
channel that we want.
We want to be able to callsomebody or look at an app or go
online based on our preference.
So if we're not providing thosetypes of resources to really
meet those expectations, then wemight not be as reliable as we
(04:08):
might be telling ourselves.
So make sure when you thinkabout what does reliable
delivery mean that you're reallymapping that out.
You're thinking about what isthat?
Not just the basics, not justthe baseline of I'm giving you
exactly what you paid for, butare they able to access their
information?
Are they able to have clearunderstanding of billing and how
to pay?
Do they have access toschedules that might be
(04:31):
important to them?
One schedule we just talkedabout with a client was about
trash pickup, right?
So when there's a holiday andpeople think that their trash is
being picked up but it's not,that's very disruptive to them.
That's one of those serviceissues, even though technically
it's not a problem.
So, when you think about yourcustomer's journey, no matter
(04:55):
what it is, think about whatdoes it mean for them to see us
as reliable and consistent?
That's number one.
Next, I would say look at whatare those neglected moments?
I call them the meh moments.
Right, these are moments thatprobably don't really cause a
(05:15):
scene, but what if you couldmake them a little better?
For example, billing.
This is an issue everywhere.
Right, we have to bill ourcustomers.
We have to make sure that ourcustomers pay for the service or
product that we're providing.
But what if billing is painful?
What if they don't have theinformation at their fingertips
(05:40):
that they need?
What if they don't have controlover when they get billed?
What if they have a questionabout it?
If we are doing it just likeeveryone else has always done it
in the history of mankind, weare missing opportunities to
turn up the volume.
I call this over-indexing onthe positive moments so that
when things go wrong becausethey will you have trust in that
(06:02):
emotional bank.
You've built up thatrelationship.
They know they can trust you.
So look for the moments that youmight be neglecting in the
customer journey and think aboutcan we do this a little better?
Can we give our customers alittle more control?
Can we offer a moment ofdelight?
You know, a funny example ofthis lately is the TSA, the
(06:25):
airport security in the UnitedStates, their social media
recently they've been sendingout reminders, but the way
they're doing it is a littletongue-in-cheek, a little fun.
And so, as you get thesereminders, yes, you get the
information you need as acustomer, but you also have that
little moment of delight.
(06:45):
So, while it might not be a bigwow moment, they can't change
how they screen for security,right, they can't treat people
differently.
That's the whole point.
But with the reminders, withcommunication, they're turning
up the volume a little bit.
They're having a little fun,they're being more proactive,
more fun, and so that's creatingthat moment of surprise and
(07:07):
delight.
So, while I don't think it'snecessary to say, yes, everybody
has to aim for those big, hugemoments all the time, I do think
there's usually an opportunityto create those positive moments
that help somebody smile in anunexpected way.
But reliable customerexperience, that is,
(07:28):
consistently delivering what isexpected, that is absolutely
goal number one.
Because if you are not doingthe basics, if you are not
delivering on that, but hey,your social media is killing it,
nobody's going to care ifthey're a customer and they're
not getting what they want, infact, that could feel like, hey,
you're investing in the wrongplace, you're not getting this
(07:50):
right.
So if you are thinking aboutyour industry right now and
you're thinking, well, weactually don't want our
customers to think about us orwe don't have moments of delight
, we have just consistency.
Where on the journey could youover-index on the positive?
Could you make it moreconvenient?
Could you make it faster?
(08:11):
Could you offer a little momentwhere, through the language you
use or the imagery, or justeven training your people to
provide that moment of delight,provide a little humor, a little
fun.
That can all go a long, longway.
So I'm going to leave you withthis.
Number one, you are absolutelyright, prioritize consistency.
(08:32):
We want to make sure we aredelivering a consistent
experience that is not onlymeeting but hopefully exceeding
the expectations of ourcustomers all the time.
Consistency is what buildstrust, so we want to make sure
that we are consistent not justin what we say, but also how the
customer experiences theproduct or service that we
(08:54):
deliver.
I also want you to look forthose micro moments.
I have a whole TEDx talk onthis, but those micro moments
that could be neglected.
These are moments that maybeeverybody does it the same way
right now, today, you could tryto do it a little differently.
That's where you can findaccessible places in the journey
(09:15):
to really provide that littlemoment of delight, little moment
of surprise, and then, finally,leverage customer feedback.
What are your customers tellingyou about what they want?
Maybe they want a littlerefinement of something that you
offer.
Maybe they're saying, yeah,this is good, but this could be
a little better.
Really look for those and seeif you could adapt or make some
(09:37):
small changes that will reflectto your customers we heard you,
we're innovating, we are stayingahead, even if it's not a big,
huge wow moment.
So I hope this is helpful,because this is one of those
things that I hear a lot about.
People tell me all the time ohyeah, I'm really good at
surprise and delight.
It's the rest of my companythat's not.
(09:57):
Well, that's not a consistentexperience.
So let's make sure we geteverybody on the same page.
As we like to say, customerexperience is everyone's
business, so let's make sureeverybody's on the same page.
Have that North Star, talkabout what kind of experience
you want to deliver and thenlook for those moments where you
can over-index on the positiveso that you can always overcome
(10:19):
the negative.
Great question, keep themcoming.
You know I love these questions, don't forget.
You can ask me at any time ataskjeannievip.
That's Jeannie with two Ns.
All right, I cannot wait tohear from you again and we will
see you next time.
To learn more about ourstrategic approach to experience
(10:40):
, check out free resources atexperienceinvestigatorscom,
where you can sign up for ournewsletter, our Year of CX
program and more, and pleasefollow me, Jeannie Walters, on
LinkedIn.
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