In business, there’s a strange phenomenon that every company needs to understand – both excellent and abysmal service drive customers to make noise. And today, social media can amplify this noise further than complaints to service teams or disgruntled conversations from colleagues and peers.
Mediocre service is not worth talking about, which has major implications for business growth and gaining new customers.
The power of extremes
Think about your own experiences as a consumer. When was the last time you told a friend about a “pretty okay” experience at a restaurant? Now, think about the last time you had an exceptional or terrible experience. Chances are, you couldn’t wait to share those stories.
This behaviour pattern creates what we might call the “Advocacy Valley”:
Terrible service generates intense negative word-of-mouth. Customers warn others away, share their stories on social media, and ensure their network knows to avoid the experience they had.
Average service creates the ‘Valley of Silence’ – where customers simply interact with a business and move on, generating no meaningful word-of-mouth in either direction.
Exceptional service drives passionate, positive comments. Customers become enthusiastic ambassadors, actively taking opportunities to recommend the business to others.
Why this matters for business growth
If you’re looking for referrals, the holy grail of low-cost, high-quality new customer development, you need to get your clients shouting from the rooftops. This means moving beyond mere satisfaction to create genuine advocacy.
Many businesses fall into the trap of aiming for ‘good enough’ service. They avoid major mistakes, resolve issues reasonably well, and maintain decent customer satisfaction scores. However, this approach has a critical flaw – it generates no organic growth through word-of-mouth.
The cost of mediocrity
- Operating in the “Valley of Silence” means:
- Higher customer acquisition costs, as you must actively market to every potential customer
- More effort is required to establish trust with new prospects
- Longer sales cycles due to a lack of social proof
- Increased vulnerability to competitors who do create advocates
Breaking out of average
So, assuming you are not looking to gain notoriety through a terrible service, the challenge is to break out of this ‘OK’ landscape and generate true advocacy from your customers.
- Identify opportunities – look for moments in the customer journey where exceeding expectations will create memorable experiences.
- Engineer excellence – design service processes that don’t just satisfy but delight, giving customers stories worth sharing. Look for opportunities to wow.
- Empower your people – give team members the authority and resources to create exceptional experiences.
- Measure what matters – look beyond satisfaction scores to track actual referral behavior and advocacy actions.
The bottom line
Customer acquisition costs continue to rise, so creating true advocates through exceptional service isn’t just a nice-to-have; it’s a crucial business strategy.
Your service needs to be remarkable. And I don’t use this as a throw-away statement.
Let it sink in. Remarkable.
That means you need to do something worthy of being remarked upon. Unprompted by your customers. In their work, across social media and even in the pub! Give your clients something to shout about from the rooftops, and they’ll become your most effective marketing channel.
