"Okay" Doesn't Drive Customer Loyalty or Word of Mouth

My wife and I took a little vacation a week ago. We'd never been to St. Louis, so we spent four days exploring. Wendy and I area always looking for ways to let our "inner-child" have some fun, so one of our days was spent at Six Flags St. Louis. It was a gorgeous day and we arrived early - looking forward to enjoying a long day of thrills and excitement.

We had an "okay" time.

Thesaurus.com provides the following synonyms of "okay": adequate, average, decent, common, passable, standard, sufficient, tolerable, unexceptionable, unobjectionable.

Does that sound like a list of words that will drive positive word-of-mouth and customer loyalty?

The difference between "okay" and "great" is usually the result of attention to small details that are done - and done well. Here were some small details that left an impression on me at Six Flags St. Louis:

• Most of the park needed a fresh coat of paint, some rides reminding me of those dingy traveling carnivals that set up in the local K-mart parking lot each summer.
• Because it wasn't high season, many rides, shows and attractions were either not in operation or were only operating during short windows of time - but this wasn't well communicated. We stood in line waiting for over a half-hour waiting for one ride to open before giving up and moving on. It wasn't opened until hours later - but not one of the park employees who walked by the long line of customers bothered to tell us that.
• Wendy read my thoughts a few hours into the experience when she asked, "Why do we have to pay full admission price if some rides aren't operating, some food stands are close, and most of the shows they advertise aren't being performed?" They had all our money, but we weren't getting the full Six Flags experience that had been advertised.
• The park wasn't particularly clean.
• I stood in line at one food stand to get one of the hot dogs they advertised. After waiting about 15 minutes to get to the front of the line and asking for the hot dog, I was told, "Oh, we don't have those anymore. They've never bothered to change the sign."

Did we have fun? Yes.
Did we enjoy the rides? Yes.
Was I thrilled and excited? No.
Did I feel it was worth the price of admission? No.
Would I return? No.
Would I recommend the park to my friends? No.

If you want to make your business memorable, if you want to drive positive word-of-mouth about your business, if you want your customers to keep coming back again and again, if you want to lead way - then you have to be more than adequate, average, decent, common, passable, standard, sufficient, tolerable, unexceptionable, or unobjectionable.

• Find out what your customers expect
• Pay attention to the details of your customer's experience
• Deliver consistently. Deliver well.

Comments

[Michael P. Libbie]

Tom:
Well said and you've got to wonder if this is in the majority of cases or the minority. Over promising and under delivering is a curse we think we'll find in most places. MPL

[Maria Palma]

It's unfortunate when you go to a place that you expect will thrill and excite you, but are completely disappointed - after all, that's what Six Flags is supposed to do! You're supposed to go there and have fun...