As the end of 2011 approachs it time to take a moment to look back at all it has brought and all it has become.  What a disappointment.  Now I am not trying to be the grinch that stole away the happy holiday feeling but lets’ face it folks, no one really surprised us this year?!

I opened the 2011 year with a positive post about customer service and a challenge question as to whether this would be the year that companies would make the difference or if they would continue to kick-back and let customers scream at the door.  As a law abiding Netherlands consumer let me just say I have lost my voice a few times this year.  But has all been lost?  Can our little Dutch customer service economy be saved?  I still really believe so and am awaiting to meet the individuals with the ‘doorzettingsvermogen’ to change the game. Oh where oh where can they be….?

My goal this year was to also share with you my top customer service experiences.  Well there hasn’t been much action on my blog lately as the inspiration has not been trickling in, until recently that is.  Last week I had what I like to term, a ‘mini-wow’ moment.  In my customer service vocabulary a ‘mini-wow’ is a feeling customers get when they are surprised by a company that previously gave them a ‘wow’.  The ‘mini-wow’ stimulates the positive memories of the initial ‘wow’ bringing back the positive feeling the customer experienced during the initial interaction.

Back in June of 2010 I had a significant ‘wow’ moment provided to me by the Ace Hotel in NYC.  I will spare you the details of the ‘wow’ for now, but know that upon my return from NYC I sang the praises of the Ace Hotel from the rooftops for the remaining months of 2010.  It had been more than a year since I had visited this hotel, and though I had not forgotten about the experience, I hadn’t shared it recently with anyone until one grey and rainy day in early November this year.  On this day I had a meeting with a client to talk about customer experience design and management and much to my surprise the individual had a photo of the coffee bar in the Ace Hotel in his deck of ‘examples’ that he wanted his company brand to become.  Seeing that I recognised the coffee bar (yes, it is that special) I immediately shared with him my ‘wow’ experience and we sat there with grins on our faces…two customer service geeks.  This was not the ‘mini-wow’ moment, this was just me happy to share this with someone who appreciates it as much as myself.

Now onto the ‘mini-wow’ moment.  Last week when roaming through my overloaded inbox I saw an email from a name I recognised but could not place.  I opened the email and it contained a very simple image with a very simple message which triggered my ‘mini-wow’ moment.  It was from the Ace Hotel.  It was wishing me a happy holiday season and it informed me that they had made a donation to the American Cancer Society’s Hope Lodge in my name. A year and a half after my stay there they hadn’t forgotten about me, nor have they lost focus on what the holiday season is all about, being there for others.  Even if they had only donated one cent in my name to the society it means so much more to me than all the other coupons and gift certificates I received from every loyalty program I belong to (and I belong to a lot as I consider it field research).

So to close off 2011, a reminder that sometimes it is just that simple.  Remember your customer, acknowledge them, and show them you care about more than just your bottom line.