I am the type of person who is constantly drinking water. Weirdly enough, I have never had soda. Ever. In my entire life. But water, I am always consuming.
When I’m eating, especially, I cannot go without drinking water. If I do not have a cup of water sitting next to me, that is full, my meal is somewhat tarnished as I constantly have to think about getting up to get my next refill.
A little, stupid thing: I hate when restaurants give out small water cups. You’ve seen them before. They are like miniature sized cups. Literally fit for a 4 year old. It is frustrating. It ruins my meal. I constantly have to get up and go get more water.
It is a weird problem to have. And definitely a first world problem. I realize I am lucky enough to have food and water in the first place.
But little water cups destroy experiences for me. Contrary, I remember restaurants who are cognizant of this and give out big cups of water.
These owners are able to empathize with me, their guest.
Of course they have their own concerns — like keeping their costs down. The restaurant industry is very hard, and if maintaining small water cups is the only way to stay alive, then do that.
This, however, is an important learning in business.
Always serve big water cups if you can.
Always execute super well on the really little things, so long as you can afford to do so.
Make your trial period as long as possible.
Give out free refunds.
Pay for shipping.
Do little things that surprise & delight your guest.
Figuring out what the potential “water cups” of your industry can be hard.
When I worked at RealtyShares, a fintech real estate company, we came up with some ideas. One thing I executed upon was handwritten cards. We sent all of our investors (tens of thousands) hand written cards, personalized, thanking them for investing.
That is a big water cup.
When I worked at Scaphold, we gave people extra team members on their plan if they really needed it. We knew that in the long run that they would appreciate this.
That is a big water cup.
There are tons of opportunities to create these experiences for your guest. What is your big water cup going to be?
Originally published at gonen.blog.
By jordangonen on May 23, 2017.
Exported from Medium on February 17, 2018.
Also published on Medium.