Have you ever wished someone… Or perhaps someone has offered you the words of encouragement… “Knock their socks off!”
It means to wow or amaze someone. To go beyond what is expected.
The saying originates from boxing – when you bop your opponent so hard you nearly knock them out of their socks.
Unfortunately – and far too often – experiences are delivered short of expectations.
- The meal was great but the service was slow.
- The camera takes great pictures, but the battery doesn’t last very long.
- I’m having trouble with my credit card – luckily they have a 24-hour service number. When I called it the recording said it would be a 32 minute wait.
I’m sure you have many similar examples.
As a customer – we love to have our socks knocked off. And, the good news as a marketer, business owner, or customer experience manager is that customers rarely expect it.
However, fixing the restaurant service, creating a battery power system that works, or properly staffing customer hotlines is NOT knocking someone’s socks off. Those actions are simply doing your job… Delivering what you’re supposed to deliver.
Sock-knocking-offing goes beyond.
To knock their socks off, you provide more than the required “AND” – you go beyond with two or three ANDs.
- The food was great AND the service was very friendly, AND they knew it was our anniversary AND treated us to free wine and a dessert.
- With this camera it is easy to take great pictures AND the battery lasts forever AND it came with a cleaning kit and case.
- The credit card company has a hotline AND it is open 24-hours AND you immediately reach a human.
Here… try to complete the below sentence, and see for yourself.
“We provide ________________ AND ________________, the full experience for our customers. We don’t stop there, however… AND we ________________. That’s how we knock their socks off.”
Is your company being a sock-knocker-offer? Are you doing both part one AND part two – the basic requirements? Do you go beyond with more than one AND?
Companies should aspire to getting to the sock-knocking-off stage but I think many customers would be pleased if more of them simply achieved adequacy. For example, today I received a somewhat confusing direct mail piece from Comcast on changes to their digital channel lineup. It goes into detail about digital adapters and warns that I’ll miss out on certain content without the right equipment. Meanwhile, I’ve had a digital box since I signed up so the letter is unnecessary. In addition to wasting money on printing and postage to – I’m sure – thousands of customers, I have no doubt it has also caused a spike in calls to their customer service line.
The ‘adequate’ approach would have been to cross-reference their database to filter out customers who already have digital equipment before doing the mailing. It seems so simple but instead Comcast has shown me that they can’t be bothered to understand their customers’ needs.
Thanks for the posting. I do think the best way to keep a customer coming back is first impressions. A business card, excellent customer service, and working product make it all happen
Great post. When I think of a business knocking my socks off, I think along the same lines; going beyond what is expected~meaning providing exceptional customer service, which is a lost art in today’s business.
Couldn’t agree with you more, Paul. It takes those knock-your-socks off experiences to make great brand ambassadors.
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I think you are right. But you should cover more on this topic.
Sure it takes a extra effort to consistently knock their socks off but boy does that go such a long way in winning them over as loyal customers! Customers that are then endlessly and willingly open to referring you new business!
This is great advice for any small to large business. It seems so often in advancement of technology that people get away from customer service. I think good customer service will be coming trend…
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