Nobody Brags About Average.

Tuning in from Pebble Beach, California, and being here reminded me of something that I think a lot of businesses have completely backwards.

People don't talk about average.

They don't tell their friends about the restaurant that was “pretty good.”

They don't post pictures of the hotel that was “fine.”

They don't enthusiastically refer the company that “did what they were supposed to do.”

And they certainly don't build stories around experiences they can barely remember.

But create something exceptional?

People talk.

They photograph it.

They post it.

They bring their friends back.

They tell stories about it years later.

And suddenly something interesting happens:

Your customers start doing your marketing for you.

That's what Pebble Beach made me think about.

This place isn't famous simply because somebody built a golf course next to the ocean.

It's famous because somebody created an experience worth remembering.

And there's a lesson in that for every business owner.

Most Companies Are Trying to Buy Attention

Marketing has become increasingly expensive because everybody is fighting for the same thing:

Attention.

Businesses buy advertisements.

Hire influencers.

Create content.

Send emails.

Optimize websites.

Run promotions.

Post on social media.

All of those things can work.

We do many of them every day at Flores Marketing Firm.

But there's another form of marketing that businesses dramatically underestimate:

Giving people something worth talking about.

Think about that.

If I spend $10,000 getting 1,000 people to experience my company, I have two options.

I can spend another $10,000 trying to find the next 1,000.

Or I can create an experience so good that some of the first 1,000 bring the next customers with them.

The strongest businesses eventually learn how to do both.

That's when marketing becomes incredibly powerful.

Your Customer Experience Is a Marketing Channel

Most companies separate marketing and operations.

Marketing gets the customer.

Operations handles the customer.

I think that's outdated.

Operations is marketing.

The way someone answers your phone is marketing.

How quickly you respond is marketing.

Your invoice is marketing.

Your packaging is marketing.

Your waiting room is marketing.

Your onboarding process is marketing.

How you solve a mistake is marketing.

The email somebody receives after purchasing is marketing.

What happens when a customer needs help is marketing.

Everything a customer experiences either strengthens or weakens the story your advertising told them.

That's why you can have brilliant advertising and still build a mediocre company.

The advertisement made a promise.

The business has to keep it.

Find Your “Pebble Beach Moment”

Every business should have at least one moment where the customer thinks:

“Wow. I wasn't expecting that.”

I call that the Pebble Beach moment.

It doesn't have to be expensive.

That's important.

A dentist could call a nervous patient the evening after a difficult procedure.

A real estate agent could send a thoughtful housewarming package based on something the client mentioned months earlier.

A contractor could send homeowners professional progress photos every Friday without being asked.

A restaurant could remember what a regular customer orders.

An e-commerce company could make its packaging so distinctive that people want to film themselves opening it.

A consultant could send the customer an unexpected strategic recommendation that wasn't technically included in the engagement.

A dealership could return a serviced vehicle cleaner than when it arrived.

Small?

Absolutely.

Forgettable?

No.

That's the point.

Surprise Lives in the Gap Between Expectation and Delivery

Here's a simple formula:

Customer Experience = What They Received − What They Expected

If you promise 10 and deliver 7, they're disappointed.

Promise 10 and deliver 10, they're satisfied.

Promise 10 and deliver 13?

Now you've created something worth discussing.

The mistake businesses make is promising 15 in the advertising and delivering 9 operationally.

“Best service.”

“World-class.”

“Unmatched.”

“Premium.”

“White glove.”

Then the customer calls and sits on hold for twenty minutes.

The stronger strategy is:

Set a clear expectation. Then quietly outperform it.

That's how trust gets built.

Audit the First 24 Hours

Here's something practical you can do this week.

Look at the first 24 hours after someone becomes your customer.

What happens?

Do they immediately receive confirmation?

Does somebody personally welcome them?

Do they understand exactly what happens next?

Do they know who to contact?

Do they know when they'll hear from you?

Is there an unexpected moment of value?

Or—

do they pay you and suddenly everything gets quiet?

That's a dangerous transition.

The moment immediately after someone purchases is psychologically important.

Before buying, they're asking:

“Should I do this?”

Immediately afterward, they're asking:

“Did I make the right decision?”

Your onboarding should answer that question quickly.

Absolutely.

The First Five Minutes Matter Too

Now do the same exercise before the sale.

Call your own company.

Submit your own lead form.

Send yourself an inquiry.

Request information.

Go through your website on your phone.

Pretend you've never heard of your business.

How long does it take to get a response?

Is the response helpful?

Does it feel personal?

Is the next step obvious?

Does somebody actually follow up?

Would you buy from you?

I've spent years around marketing and businesses of different sizes, and this continues to amaze me:

Companies will spend enormous amounts of money generating leads and then handle those leads casually.

That's like buying Super Bowl tickets and leaving at halftime.

Don't pay to create an opportunity you're operationally unprepared to capture.

Measure the Leaks, Not Just the Leads

At Flores Marketing Firm, one of the things we've increasingly focused on is what happens after marketing generates attention.

Because more traffic doesn't automatically fix a business.

Sometimes the problem isn't lead generation.

It's response time.

Follow-up.

Sales.

Positioning.

Onboarding.

Automation.

Retention.

Customer experience.

That's why I believe modern marketing firms have to understand considerably more than advertisements.

If I generate twice as many opportunities for a business but half of them disappear because nobody follows up correctly, we haven't solved the real problem.

We've simply made the leak more expensive.

The objective isn't more leads.

The objective is more customers.

Those are not the same thing.

Make Yourself Easy to Refer

Here's another exercise I love.

Ask five customers:

“If you were recommending us to a friend, what would you say?”

Then stop talking.

Listen carefully.

Whatever comes next is probably closer to your real brand than what's written on your website.

If they struggle to explain why you're different, that's information.

If everybody gives a different answer, that's information.

If they immediately say:

“They're expensive, but…”

Pay attention to what comes after the “but.”

That may be your competitive advantage.

The best brands give customers simple language they can repeat.

“They're ridiculously fast.”

“They take care of everything.”

“They're expensive, but they're worth it.”

“They answer every time.”

“They understand our industry better than anybody.”

“They made the entire process easy.”

That's powerful marketing.

Because now your customer knows how to sell you.

Fix Problems So Well People Remember the Recovery

Here's one that business owners often miss.

You will make mistakes.

So will I.

So will my team.

Every growing organization eventually gets something wrong.

The goal isn't pretending mistakes won't happen.

It's becoming exceptional at what happens next.

Own it quickly.

Communicate.

Fix it.

Don't make the customer chase you.

Don't hide behind policies when common sense says you should make something right.

And when appropriate, give them more than they expected.

Sometimes a customer who experiences a problem that is handled exceptionally becomes more loyal than someone who never experienced a problem at all.

Why?

Because now they know what happens when things go wrong.

Trust isn't only built when everything works.

Sometimes it's built when something doesn't.

Stop Asking Customers to Refer You

Businesses constantly say:

“Don't forget to refer your friends!”

That's fine.

But there's a better question.

Have we created something people naturally want to refer?

Referrals shouldn't depend entirely on reminders.

Build referral triggers into the experience.

Give customers a story.

Give them something unexpectedly useful.

Celebrate their success.

Create shareable moments.

Follow up after the transaction when everybody else disappears.

Make introductions.

Send useful information.

Remember important details.

Become somebody worth having in their network.

Then asking for the referral becomes considerably easier.

Retention Might Be Your Cheapest Growth Strategy

Everyone wants the next customer.

Don't forget the one you already paid to acquire.

Suppose you increase advertising 20%.

That's one way to grow.

But what if instead you improved:

Repeat purchases.

Renewals.

Upsells.

Cross-sells.

Referrals.

Customer lifetime value.

Retention.

You might grow without increasing customer-acquisition costs at all.

This is why businesses should stop viewing marketing exclusively as the activity that happens before the sale.

Some of the most profitable marketing happens afterward.

Calculate the Value of One Happy Customer

Most companies dramatically underestimate this.

A customer isn't necessarily worth one transaction.

Imagine a customer buys $5,000 from you.

Then buys another $5,000 next year.

Then refers somebody who buys $10,000.

That customer wasn't worth $5,000.

Their economic impact was at least $20,000.

And that still doesn't include additional referrals, testimonials, reputation or future purchases.

Now multiply that across hundreds of customers.

Suddenly customer experience isn't a “soft” business concept.

It's economics.

Give Your Team Permission to Create Great Experiences

This is important.

Sometimes employees recognize an opportunity to delight a customer but don't have authority to do anything.

They need approval.

Then another approval.

Then accounting.

Then management.

By the time everybody approves the $50 gesture, the moment is gone.

Give trusted employees reasonable boundaries.

Maybe they can spend up to a certain amount solving a customer problem without asking.

Maybe they can upgrade something.

Send something.

Refund something.

Fix something.

Make a decision.

Companies become memorable when employees have enough authority to behave like humans.

Don't Try to Be Memorable Everywhere

Here's the final piece.

You don't need fireworks at every touchpoint.

That becomes expensive and ridiculous.

Choose a few moments that matter disproportionately.

The first response.

The purchase.

The onboarding.

The delivery.

A milestone.

A problem.

The renewal.

The goodbye.

Those are emotional moments.

Design those carefully.

Average everywhere with excellence nowhere is still average.

Pick your moments.

Own them.

Nobody Brags About Average

That's what Pebble Beach reminded me.

You can play golf in thousands of places.

But people travel from around the world to experience this one.

Why?

Because extraordinary creates stories.

And stories travel.

Your business doesn't need an ocean beside the 18th hole.

But it does need something people remember.

Something people tell their spouse about when they get home.

Something they mention when a friend asks for a recommendation.

Something competitors haven't bothered to do.

Something that makes a customer think:

“These people are different.”

So here's the question I'd take back to your company:

What happens in your customer experience that's worth talking about?

If you can't immediately answer it, don't panic.

That's an opportunity.

Find one moment.

Make it exceptional.

Then another.

Then another.

Because advertising can introduce someone to your company.

Sales can turn them into a customer.

But an extraordinary experience can turn that customer into something considerably more valuable:

An advocate.

And when enough customers start telling your story for you, marketing becomes a very different game.

Ready to Build a Growth Engine People Remember?

If you're generating attention but know your marketing, follow-up or customer journey could perform at another level, apply to work with Flores Marketing Firm.

Let's find the leaks—and build something your customers want to talk about.

— Corey Flores