About six weeks ago, the news that techno geeks like me were waiting for finally broke: Apple announced the arrival of the completely redesigned iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus. I was astounded by the level of excitement leading up to the unveiling. It was so exciting that I, like many consumers, waited at my iMac until 12:01 am to push the purchase button. Imagine my disappointment when I realized that the phone’s release would be on Pacific, not Eastern, time. 

To add insult to insult, Apple’s website had a complete meltdown due to the high volume. Finally, at 6:03 a.m., Ohio time, my order went through. The ship date was September 19^th. I felt that I had “won.” 

Now, I am no virgin to new technology especially when it comes to my favorite brand (which, FYI, was just named the most valuable and recognizable brand in the world). You see, my soon-to-be wife and our blended Brady Bunch family of 6 children are all Apple junkies. Currently, we own eight iPhones, four iPads, two iPad minis, two iMacs and two PowerMacs. Oh, and two Apple TVs. Needless to say, we have shown our undying loyalty to this brand.

So imagine the scene: I am celebrating my new purchase at 6 a.m., thereby waking up a half dozen very cranky kids. That excitement came crashing down at 6:05 a.m., when I received my order confirmation email from Apple. It seemed that I wasn’t the only one to order an iPhone 6 Plus in the middle of night. My new ship date went from September 19^th to October 2^nd. How could my favorite brand betray me like this? Well, it turns out, Apple sold more than 10 million units of the iPhone 6 in the first weekend alone.

As disappointed as I was, as a marketer, I was still awed by the incredible demand Apple created. But when October 2^nd arrived, and I checked my order status, it had been bumped to a ship date window of October 15^th – October 22^nd. My heart sank. My brand loyalty quickly waned and I doubted that October 22^nd would bring with it my new phone.

Over that weekend, I was so pleased (insert sarcasm here) to learn that my stepdaughter’s father waltzed into the store and purchased a brand new iPhone 6 right off of the shelf. His only wait was while they were bagging it at the register.

On October 22, my fear came true. Apple changed my status to “backordered” and I was told by the customer service representative that it could be weeks or months until my new iPhone 6 arrived.

Every day, I am surrounded by amazing people in our marketing and experience design firm that live and breathe brand experience, equity and advocacy. While Apple did a stellar job attracting me, converting me and closing me, they seemed to have forgotten to delight me. They failed to close the loop and have left themselves vulnerable to losing a very valuable customer.

Here are a few tips on how to delight your customers:

1. Surprise your customer by exceeding expectations – You can do this in many ways: Delivering the best customer service, contests via social media, email marketing offers, etc.

2. Celebrate loyalty to your brand – Customers make or break you. Why not celebrate them? Give them loyalty discount codes, put them on a special list to receive special previews or promotions, and always aim to please. 

3. Keep your promises…ALWAYS! – Do not make promises you cannot keep. Easy as that. You are held accountable if you break them, and that does not look good for your brand. 

4. Continue to educate your customers and build lasting relationships –Customers may spend years with your company, so help them in any way you can. Share insights and ideas. Continue to build and grow the B2C relationship. These are your people.

Maya Angelou once said, “People will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will not forget how you made them feel."

Well, when it comes to Apple, I feel like I might have picked the wrong fruit.

-Tim Farrel, CPV New Biz Guy