There’s no doubt that our emotions have a large effect on our buying behavior. And there are emotional connections to a brand or a company as well. Emotions from previous, related customer experiences color our judgments, especially when it comes to value.

When companies can connect with customers through emotion, they can reap huge returns. And those returns don’t just come from purchases. When companies manage to make an emotional connection, they usually see an increase in customer loyalty, overall customer spend and referrals. In fact, fully connected customers are 52 percent more valuable, on average, than those who are just highly satisfied.

In this issue of Promotional Consultant Today, we share these tips on how to create that emotional connection—not just with one or two customers—but in a way that allows you to scale the connection across a multitude of customers.

At the 50,000-foot-level, companies need to empower front-line employees and account managers—anyone who interacts with customers—to do things that go above and beyond. Exceeding expectations helps create memorable experiences and what marketers call “WOW!” experiences.

In order to scale these kinds of “WOW!” experiences, you need both a plan and the tools for executing that plan. Consistency is key, so you will want to make such experiences a daily habit that you can incorporate into your routine. This will require you to do the following:

Set goals. We have goals for everything else in life—weight loss, revenue, customer satisfaction, etc.—so why not set personal relationship goals? Small, frequent communications are a good start. Plan to connect with people on a quarterly, monthly or weekly basis.

Identify moments that matter to customers. People have their own unique passions. Focus on moments that are meaningful to them. For example, did your customer’s son or daughter just play an important game? Did your customer’s favorite football team win the division? Do they have an important business or wedding anniversary coming up?

Think simple and personal. Not every gesture has to be big. An unpretentious catered lunch can be just as meaningful as a large, lavish dinner—sometimes even more so. So share things that are simple and personal: a local event, a piece of relevant, high-quality content, a joke, a well-done video, etc.

Refine. You won’t have an instant hit with every action you take. Try several things, then see what your customers like based on their actions. Then adapt your approach.

Be consistent. Do these things frequently. Keep doing them. Timing is the most important ingredient.

Each WOW! experience brings a set of powerful positive emotions that will impact your brand and your bottom line for the better.

Source: Baker Nanduru is founder and CEO of Delighterr Inc, a next-generation client engagement software company. He has 15-plus years of B2B strategy and marketing experience at Symantec, Veritas and Oracle.