How Strata Management Firms Can Make the Most of the Moments That Matter

Last Christmas, my wife and I ordered a premium zero-alcohol boutique beer tasting pack as a gift for a family member who had given up drinking. By the time it arrived it was Christmas Eve, and to our disappointment the goods had been badly damaged in transit. In fact, the cans were crushed, and the boxes were torn apart, to the extent that we couldn’t give it as a gift.

We sent the company we’d bought from a note letting them know the items were damaged and that, as it was a gift, it was extra disappointing – especially given how late it had arrived. We expected that would be that and, best case, we might get a refund (though given they were still drinkable, we weren’t sure we’d even get that). Then, the most amazing thing happened.

About an hour after we sent our feedback, we received a phone call. It was the company we’d bought from, and they were calling us at 3pm on Christmas Eve. They said they’d received our email, were sorry… and wanted to know what time we were opening presents on Christmas Day!

“We can’t get to you today,” they said, “but we can bring a replacement pack out tomorrow before you exchange gifts”. We couldn’t believe it.

So, the next day – Christmas Day – at about 8am our doorbell rings, and it’s a young delivery driver wearing a big smile and a little Santa hat, holding a replacement taster pack.

“Thank you so much for doing this – this is incredible service,” I said, “and I hope we haven’t caused you trouble on Christmas”.

His reply: “Not at all. I’m going away today with my family and when my boss told me what had happened, I let him know your house was in the direction we were going and that I could drop this off and then hit the road. They’re waiting in the car. No worries and merry Christmas!”.

It was like something out of a very low-stakes, low-budget Netflix Christmas special. My wife’s subsequent Google review for the company reads: “If I could give six stars, I would”.

I think there is so much that businesses – especially Strata management businesses – can take from this simple story. Merely 18 hours before my wife wanted a way to give a six-star review, we were having a very bad customer experience – a late delivery, and a product problem that meant no gift for a family member. But their creative solution fully turned around our experience.

I call this ‘making the most of the moments that matter’, and it’s a key part of how organisations craft a customer experience, stand out from the crowd, and delight buyers. And it works. Do you think my wife or I would ever buy this product from another company, after that experience?

No way. In fact, we spent all Christmas telling everyone about it and how awesome they were!

In Strata, we’re dealing with high stakes, highly charged situations all the time. Owners and tenants alike bring so much emotion to the table, and it’s fair to say there is a broad spectrum of how, er, ‘constructive’ they can be while doing that! It’s like every day is Christmas and they’re permanently worried about being left without a gift.

It’s not realistic to expect that problems won’t emerge (even though we should do everything we can to avoid issues in the first place). But the real question is: what are the tools we can use to respond in those times to create moments of delight, differentiation and engagement?

At our Senior Leaders Forum masterclass, we’re going to walk through questions like this – and more! – as we unpack a process and series of tools to help Strata Management firms stand out, build deep and lasting relationships, and make the most of the moments that matter.

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Dominic Thurbon is an experienced senior executive, successful entrepreneur, and researcher, writer and speaker. He is a director and co-founder at Alchemy Labs, and is presenting at the SCA Senior Leaders Forum on 19 February.

Find more of his work at www.domthurbon.com