In the world of business, it's easy to focus on transactions—orders placed, services delivered, accounts closed. But great companies know that real loyalty isn’t built on transactions. It’s built on moments. And sometimes, the most defining customer moments aren’t when everything goes right—they’re when everything goes wrong.
Take Chewy, the online pet food company, as a powerful example. Chewy’s model is built around recurring deliveries. Pet food shows up at your door like clockwork every month. It’s convenient, reliable, and easy to manage. But what happens when a pet dies? For the grieving owner, cancelling a subscription is rarely the first thing on their mind. So a week or two later, the next shipment arrives—bringing with it a renewed wave of grief.
Now here’s where Chewy sets itself apart. When that customer reaches out to cancel, Chewy doesn’t just process the request. They refund the last shipment in full, no questions asked. Then, they suggest something beautiful: donate the food to a local animal shelter. A few days later, a bouquet of flowers arrives with a handwritten note saying, “We’re sorry for your loss.”
That’s not just customer service. That’s empathy at scale. And here’s what makes it even more powerful: most pet owners eventually get another pet. And when they do, they won’t shop around. They’ll go back to Chewy. Why? Because Chewy recognized the moment that mattered most, and responded with humanity. That customer is now a customer for life.
What’s the Lesson?
Every business has recurring moments in its customer journey—renewals, shipments, follow-ups, support calls. Within those patterns are moments that matter—the ones that test your relationship and define how your customer sees you.
Here’s how to find and act on them:
- Map your recurring interactions: Where do customers engage with you repeatedly? Are there moments of tension or emotion hidden in those routines?
- Anticipate inflection points: Are there life or business changes that might impact how your customer sees value in your service?
- Empower your team to act with heart: Sometimes a policy refund isn’t enough. Equip your staff to respond like humans, not scripts.
- Invest in follow-through: A kind gesture, a note, a helpful suggestion—these go further than any discount ever could.
Final Thought
The brands we remember—the ones we return to—are the ones that made us feel something. They understood that real loyalty is earned not just through efficiency, but through empathy. Your business might not sell pet food, but it still has those moments. Find them. Show up in them. And you’ll earn customers who stay for life.