As soon as she handed the keycard for the upgraded room to the formerly disgruntled (now beaming) guest, the receptionist smiled and handed her a second card. Her eyes held those of the woman who had been complaining loudly only five minutes before.

“Would you please consider giving us a review on Trip Advisor, the website details are on this card?
Thanks so much, it means a lot to us.”

We spend a lot of resources fighting fires, dealing with unrealistic or unfulfilled expectations and yet we do virtually nothing to help cement the great experiences we deliver to customers all the time.

When we begin enabling and amplifying the good we create an environment that facilitates customer delight. When proactively nurture post positive interactions our posture shifts—instead of looking for ways to fight fires we seek out opportunities to fill our buckets with water.

It’s far easier to fight fires if the water buckets are half full before you start.

Image by Georgette Tan.