“I’ve never seen a business that delights customers that doesn’t succeed. What you want is that customer the next day, when they think, ‘Do I want to rent a car?’ or ‘Do I want to buy some furniture?’ What goes through their mind? You know, it’s the place where they had a great experience. I don’t know what I paid for this tie, but I will remember how I was treated when I bought it. I mean, you long forget about the price, but you never forget whether you had a good experience, or a poor experience, with the purchase experience. And you will have a hard time finding a person that’s had a wonderful experience, a delighted experience, in purchasing anything that isn’t going to come back. And similarly, if the memory is of rudeness, indifference, you know, whatever it may be, they’re never going to come back, and as a small business owner, and as you grow, you have to not only be able to project that interest in people’s well-being in delighting them yourself, but you have to do it through other people.”
Warren Buffet.
The Sage of Omaha, Warren Buffet, gave this advice at an investor’s conference. One of the richest men in the world, Buffet’s stock picking abilities and acumen with recognizing hidden gems in companies that others ignore is legendary. The advice he gave could be summed up in one phrase, delight the customer with their buying experience.
I completely agree with his advice. A casual perusal of one’s neighborhood and the businesses that are successful will confirm this. Of course, everything is magnified by social media and feedback is literally immediate and broadcast to potentially thousands of readers. Nonetheless, when a company delights the customer, such an experience often goes viral on social media, reinforcing Buffet’s statement. What about our relationship with God? Does God desire to give us a delightful experience?
For the LORD your God is living among you. He is a mighty savior. He will take delight in you with gladness. With his love, he will calm all your fears. He will rejoice over you with joyful songs.
Zephaniah 3:17 (NLT)
Take delight in the LORD, and he will give you your heart’s desires.
Psalms 37:4 (NLT)
God loves to delight in His Creation. Why? Love. Pure and overflowing love! It is not about achieving a profit, like a business, or attempting to win our devotion to Him. God loves us because of who He is. God is love and it is a love that we can never truly understand because our sinful nature prevents us from acknowledging and even understanding the complete expression of this love. The ultimate expression of God’s love is by sending His only Son to die on the Cross as payment for our sins. As the late Bible teacher, J. Vernon McGee, wrote, “It would break your heart and my heart if we knew how much He loves us!”
Delighting the customer? God delights in us for one reason, so that we may freely choose to return His love and accept His Son, Jesus Christ, as our Lord and Savior.
Praise God!
Love and trust in the Lord; seek His will in your life.
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