Can't stop thinking about the incomparable Tony Hsieh, who passed away recently. He made an impression on me early in my career, after he popped by the Etsy office to chat with our team and drop off a few of his books, Delivering Happiness. I've been thinking about Tony's wisdom, and all the ways I've tried to infuse these good vibes throughout my career.
A few things I've done below, thanks to the inspiration from Tony. I'd love to hear more stories about how you've delivered happiness along your community journeys (big or small!). (Considering a blog post on this!)
Here are a few things I've done:
Sent fake ransom notes in the mail, demanding playfully that Etsy sellers value their work (or else a fictional mascot might get hurt). (They admitted in our forums that they should raise their prices, but that they were scared to do so.)
Interrupted an Airbnb educational event with a 90s style jazzercise class, passing out costumes, had everyone do a costume change.
Sent edible arrangements to community members that had been just slightly inconvenienced. (Sometimes I like a goofy and over the top token of apology.)
Sent a bottle of wine and a few pints of ice cream to a community member that got broken up with :(
A Barkbox customer told me they just couldn't find a rescue dog. I made it my MISSION to get this woman the dog of her dreams. I ended up picking up a dog from a shelter while I was in Los Angeles and delivered him to her in Brooklyn.
Discussion (12)
i don't know if this necessary counts as an example (following yours) but one of the ways that i try to deliver happiness is by just showing up...
... sometimes, that's more than enough for a lot of folks, especially now. people will register and an event planner has 100 signups... only for 4 of them to show up on the zoom call.
that kills.
also, happiness is a state of mind... so, one of the ways i try to do this to my community is fast-response time... which oftentimes is more than enough to set things right.
This reminded me of the token of appreciation you offered me after a feature on your blog. That is a great one! It might be under wraps, because you might do this with more people in the future, but just thought of it :)
oh! lol. that was fun. i totally forgot about that... hope it's comfy... :P
I'm not exactly sure why, but nothing and I mean nothing beats edible arrangements in terms of bang for the buck.
Noted for future use. 🍓🍊
Truth. LOL.
This sort of thing is so necessary, in a way I think, that's often overlooked. Various things I've been able to do for some standouts this year:
I love all of these, Vic! So thoughtful. Thanks for sharing :)
A few months back I gave a dog training Masterclass to a member who had just gotten a new puppy. One of my favorite surprise and delight moments of the year :)
Absolutely love this, Jill :D
Swag is always a fun classic example, especially when its unexpected and not just the standard t-shirt and sweaters.
We've got some great 'secret' swag that we've started to send to some of our community members!
WOW Danielle I'm blown away by your examples. The dog one especially got to me lol 🧡
We're looking to send handwritten cards welcoming new users via handwrytten.com/ or something similar. Some of them even integrate via API w/your CRM to do the heavy lifting (if you typically onboard hundreds or thousands of new ppl a week)!
Thanks for the inspiration and fresh ideas :)