Surprise!
Do you like surprises?
If your answer is yes, hold on to that answer for a moment and consider the following scenario:
You live in Los Angeles, and you have a life-changing business appointment with a client in Houston. It's your dream client. You've always wanted to work with them and finally your dreams are about to come true.
A lot of money as well as your reputation is at stake. So after confirming important details with your client, you start planning your trip a month in advance.
Tickets have been bought.
You've gone over every detail to ensure that you're more than prepared.
After all you're no amateur.
Being the thorough person that you are, your flight is set to arrive a day ahead of the meeting.
"I want to be prepared and relaxed," you say.
It's travel day.
You place your luggage gently in the trunk and toss a sweater onto the passenger's seat.
"I'll just park the car at the airport," you say, "and have a friend pick it up later."
(You've got great friends.)
The key's in the ignition. You turn it over. There's a click, but you don't hear the sound you've come to expect. There's no engine turnover.
Hmm... Let's try that again. You do it about ten times but still nothing.
Not to worry. You call an Uber. Crisis averted. You get to the airport on time.
But wait! You're not getting off that easy. You've checked in and are a few steps away from the gate. You look at a monitor on a wall close by.
GATE CHANGED
Still no worries. You're an optimist! After all, the new gate is just a couple gates away from where you were originally headed.
You're walking up to the gate. There's some commotion. You wonder what could all this fuss be about.
"CANCELLED?" — a woman's irate voice is heard protesting.
Oh no! Not another problem! What else could go wrong?
But like I said before, this is your dream client. This is a once in a lifetime opportunity. You're not gonna give up that easily, are you? So after all has quieted down, you talk to the agent at the gate. There's a flight leaving early tomorrow. You remind yourself that it's just a three hour flight from LA to Houston and that getting to Houston an hour ahead of the meeting would be enough time.
It's the day of the meeting. The flight was faster that expected. You're excited that you're gonna have an extra 15 minutes to spare. You're on your way from the airport to the client's office. Your phone rings. It's your client's secretary. Something came up and the client needs to delay the project.
You could eat your phone from the pure wrath that's building inside, but you're a professional.
“No problem,” you say, choking back your angry curses.
“I guess we'll have to reschedule.”
If your answer is yes, hold on to that answer for a moment and consider the following scenario:
You live in Los Angeles, and you have a life-changing business appointment with a client in Houston. It's your dream client. You've always wanted to work with them and finally your dreams are about to come true.
A lot of money as well as your reputation is at stake. So after confirming important details with your client, you start planning your trip a month in advance.
Tickets have been bought.
You've gone over every detail to ensure that you're more than prepared.
After all you're no amateur.
Being the thorough person that you are, your flight is set to arrive a day ahead of the meeting.
"I want to be prepared and relaxed," you say.
It's travel day.
You place your luggage gently in the trunk and toss a sweater onto the passenger's seat.
"I'll just park the car at the airport," you say, "and have a friend pick it up later."
(You've got great friends.)
The key's in the ignition. You turn it over. There's a click, but you don't hear the sound you've come to expect. There's no engine turnover.
Hmm... Let's try that again. You do it about ten times but still nothing.
Not to worry. You call an Uber. Crisis averted. You get to the airport on time.
But wait! You're not getting off that easy. You've checked in and are a few steps away from the gate. You look at a monitor on a wall close by.
GATE CHANGED
Still no worries. You're an optimist! After all, the new gate is just a couple gates away from where you were originally headed.
You're walking up to the gate. There's some commotion. You wonder what could all this fuss be about.
"CANCELLED?" — a woman's irate voice is heard protesting.
Oh no! Not another problem! What else could go wrong?
But like I said before, this is your dream client. This is a once in a lifetime opportunity. You're not gonna give up that easily, are you? So after all has quieted down, you talk to the agent at the gate. There's a flight leaving early tomorrow. You remind yourself that it's just a three hour flight from LA to Houston and that getting to Houston an hour ahead of the meeting would be enough time.
It's the day of the meeting. The flight was faster that expected. You're excited that you're gonna have an extra 15 minutes to spare. You're on your way from the airport to the client's office. Your phone rings. It's your client's secretary. Something came up and the client needs to delay the project.
You could eat your phone from the pure wrath that's building inside, but you're a professional.
“No problem,” you say, choking back your angry curses.
“I guess we'll have to reschedule.”
Consistency builds trust
I know that scenario was a bit extreme, but I guarantee it has happened before.
Do you think you'd like those surprises?
Your customers depend on your brand to be consistent, don't surprise them.
Whether it's your brand's voice, visual style or customer experience, ensure that you are doing everything you can to be consistent.
Consistency is of utmost importance to a brand experience. It promises us that we can be sure of what to expect. We can make plans. We can count on things being the same way all the time or having a certain standard or quality. A lack of consistency leads to an erosion of trust.
No surprises. [Unless it's a check for a million dollars :) ] Be consistent!
Remember consistency builds trust and without trust there can be no loyalty.
What are your thoughts? Let us know!
— Neon Nation