The Proven Entrepreneur

TPE 5 | Concept Of Wow

 

In the past episodes, the Proven Entrepreneur has been talking about the Concept of Wow. It is on a scale of one to 10, 10 being the best, the customers will say “Wow”, and this “wow”, starts at 11 and goes to infinity. In today’s episode, witness how a company delivers a WOW concept as Don William narrates his experience from an unexpected flight booking to a “Wow” experience.

For information on how to work with Don visit Work With Don Williams
You can also reach out to Don Williams at https://donwilliamsglobal.com
Please join Don and his businesses in support of St. Jude’s Children Research Hospital in its Mission to cure Childhood Cancers. You can donate to St. Jude at stjude.org/donate

Listen to the podcast here

 

From Doubt To “Wow”

I want to share another story about the concept of Wow. We know that Wow is on a scale of 1 to 10, with 10 being the best where our customers say, “Wow.” Wow starts at eleven and goes on to infinity. A couple of years ago, my wife and I were headed to Bangkok, Thailand, for a conference. She tells me that she will book the tickets for airfare. I’m like, “That’s fine. No problem.” When I come home that night, she says, “I booked the tickets, and included in the price of the ticket is they are sending a driver to the house to pick us and the luggage up and transport us to the airport.”

I’m like, “You heard and read it wrong. That is not happening.” As it’s most often the case when we disagree, she is right, and I was wrong. On the day of the flight, a couple of hours before takeoff, there’s a knock at the door. A large well-dressed man with a black suit, white shirt, black tie, and black Escalade says, “I’m here to get you and your luggage and carry you to DFW International Airport.” I think to myself, “Wow. I never had this experience with any airline, and I fly a lot.” We get to the airport, and our escort checks us and our bags in and wishes us a good trip.

I’m thinking, “This is pretty cool.” I still don’t know how they did this. We are boarding the plane, and we have not sat down in our seats yet. The flight attendant approaches me and says, “Mr. Williams.” Remember, we have not sat down. She didn’t check us in to go on the plane but somehow, she knew my name, “Mr. Williams, would you like to see a wine list?” I’m a little bit of a smart aleck with her because I’m used to flying where your wine choice is red or white. Maybe they have 2 reds and 2 whites but generally, they are out of one. You are back to red and white.

TPE 5 | Concept Of Wow
Concept Of Wow: Dubai is the busiest airport in the world, with over 90,000 passengers a day.

 

I tell her, “If you have a wine list, I would like to see a wine list.” She has a real wine list. I look over the list and ask for a glass of the 2004 Bordeaux. They’re going to serve me a 12 or 13 year-old-wine on an airplane. She brings it, and it’s magnificent. I think to myself, “Wow. I could get used to this.” We take off. It’s a long flight. The way that we are going to fly from DFW to Dubai is sixteen hours. You have a 2 or 3-hour layover, and then an additional 6 or 7 hours onto Bangkok. It’s a very long flight.

As we are over the Atlantic and they are getting ready to dim the cabin where everybody can get some sleep, the flight attendant comes by and says, “Mr. Williams, would you like a mattress?” At this point, it’s humorous to me. I’m like, “If you’ve got a mattress in your back pocket, I would like one.” She shows up in a couple of more minutes, and she has a 3 or 4-inch memory foam mattress. I’m weird this way. I like fine fabrics. It has 1,200-thread count cotton sheets. At this point, my mind is blown, “Wow.”

Another time she approached, she said, “Let me tell you when we are going to feed you and what we are going to feed you.” One of the choices was Chilean sea bass, and another one was a fillet. She said, “We are going to feed you about these times but if you would like to eat earlier or later, let me know because we will cook to order.” I am blown away. We get to Dubai. Dubai has the busiest airport in the world. Over 90,000 passengers a day go through that airport. It’s because we are coming from the United States and going on to Thailand, we have to clear customs in Dubai.

When you make up your mind to try and deliver wow experiences to your customers, you will become life-long evangelists. Click To Tweet

If you travel internationally, you have to clear customs regularly. You know that many times, that is not a good experience. That is a long, slow, tedious, and painful experience to clear customs. When we get to Dubai like at Walt Disney World, where you get the FastPass, and you can go on the short and quick lines instead of a long and slow line, they have the same type of pass. We pass a gazillion people that are standing in line and go through another line, then we are through customs in ten minutes flat.

It’s unbelievable. My feeling is, “Wow. These people know how to do it.” It has been a long trip already at this point. We were in the air for sixteen hours and at the airport for a couple of hours before that. When we get to Dubai, we have a meal. We were tired. While waiting for the next leg of the plane, both of us fell asleep in the seating area provided. Before the plane takes off, the gate attendant comes up, puts her hand on my shoulder, and says, “Mr. Williams, it’s time for you to board your plane.” I’m like, “Wow. I’m blown away.”

We get on the plane, and off we go to Bangkok. When you arrive in Bangkok, here’s the part that I didn’t know. My wife neglected to tell me because of how disbelieving I was. She told me someone was going to pick us up. When we get to Bangkok, there’s a driver there. It’s the middle of the night, and you have been traveling for 24 hours. You are not even sure what the Date Line is or what night it is. The driver collects our weary souls and luggage and delivers us to the hotel. It’s a pure Wow experience. 2 to 3 weeks later, when we are coming back, the process is repeated in reverse.

TPE 5 | Concept Of Wow
Concept Of Wow: If you travel internationally, you have to clear Customs regularly. Everyone knows it is a long, slow, tedious, and painful experience.

 

On the concept of Wow, when you make up your mind to try and deliver Wow experiences to your customers, that’s the first step in delivering those Wow experiences. When you do, they will become lifelong evangelists. That trip and those Wow experiences were provided by Emirates Air. This is not a commercial. I received no compensation from Emirates but I’m pleased to share this story because they deliver an experience unparalleled on any of my other flights. That’s a Wow story on The Proven Entrepreneur. I will see you next time.

Important Links

 

For information on how to work with Don visit Work With Don Williams
You can also reach out to Don Williams at https://donwilliamsglobal.com
Please join Don and his businesses in support of St. Jude’s Children Research Hospital in its Mission to cure Childhood Cancers. You can donate to St. Jude at stjude.org/donate
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TPE 5 | Concept Of Wow