And, delight is distinct from satisfaction. Satisfaction is a rational, cognitive response to a service performance or experience based on previously held expectations. If a company just about meets a customer’s expectations, the person is neutral or has no reaction. When expectations are exceeded, the customer is satisfied. And, when something unexpected happens on top of satisfaction, the customer becomes delighted. Delight your customers and they’ll keep coming back for more Advocates of customer delight have recognized its potential to forge strong emotional connections and drive desirable business outcomes for a company, such as referrals, retention, and revenue, which all can lead to loyalty (Exhibit 2). Our customer delight research showed consistent and significant unlocks across sectors, geographies, and product types. Referrals: Our research revealed an impact on referrals, which reinforces the notion that satisfaction is a vital foundation of customer experience. When customers are not satisfied, delighting them is helpful but does not, and cannot, help fully recover the loss. However, our findings also showed that satisfied customers who experienced delight, versus those who didn’t, had a significantly higher intention to recommend the brand to others, implying that delight is a great amplifier of loyalty. The NPS amplification impact of delight on satisfied customers was significant across different sectors—28 points in tourism, 18 in insurance, and 15 in banking (Exhibit 3). Exhibit 1 Joy and surprise are basic human emotions that together evoke delight. Illustration of Plutchik’s Wheel of Emotions (simplified) Source: Psycho-evolutionary basis for emotions (Plutchik) Joy and surprise are basic human emotions that together evoke delight. McKinsey & Company Sadness Disgust Anger Anticipation Acceptance Wheel of Emotions Fear Delight Joy Surprise Plutchik’s Wheel of Emotions illustrates how primary emotions like joy and surprise combine to create delight, demonstrating the interaction of emotions in forming distinct experiences 3 Fueling growth through moments of customer delight