It’s Valentine’s Day, which we all know is the annual effort by the chocolate industry to fill in the gap between Christmas and Easter over-indulgence by buying over-priced confectionery involving heart shapes and red wrapping. Or it’s the flower industry getting a lift before Mothers’ Day. Or it’s the card industry still trying to be relevant in the era of e-cards and… well, you get the drift: it’s a feast day for cynics. Or is it? For the customer experience-obsessive it’s a day of wonder – in my case wondering how many different types of enterprise can muscle in on the festival of romance/unrequited love/general yuckiness (delete where applicable). In a random and unscientific sample today I have come across:

• My local gym emailing me suggesting ‘take your Valentine for a FREE workout’ (thanks but no)
• Reports of train guards making Valentine-related announcements
• Whilst on the subject of trains, a screening of Brief Encounter with live orchestra at London’s South Bank Centre (although quite how a film about a near-disastrous affair fits the bill is slightly beyond me)
• Nearby jazz venue The 606 Club posting the peerless Fred Astaire singing ‘The Way You Look Tonight’ on its Facebook feed
• An online sheet music retailer offering me ‘Cupid’s Coupon Arrow – up to $20 off’ (I guess I could download ‘The Way You Look Tonight’ and serenade my wife later… maybe not)
• Virgin Trains handing out heart-shaped chocolates to its customers

I could go on, but I suspect if you’ve made it this far your natural cynicism has kicked in: yes, these are all none-too-subtle marketing ploys. However, from a customer experience point of view it’s all upside: at the worst it leaves me neutral but at best it cheers up my day. And to me, that’s getting to the essence of superior customer experience: what I like to call Moments of Joy, and other companies will call magic moments, moments of truth etc. Truly customer-centric organisations will make these happen on a regular basis and without the excuse of a special day. Treating customers with warmth, using humour and, if you must, chocolate or other goodies will help build a better relationship and – to drop my cynicism completely – make the world just a little bit of a happier place.

Now if you’ll excuse me, I have a bottle of champagne to attend to…