5 Flames Award to Rover for Pattern Interrupting Touchpoint

Here at Inspire Fire®, we have our Five Flame award. This is an award we give to companies who we feel are delivering exceptional customer experiences and meaningful touchpoints along the customer journey. Today we are awarding it to Rover. This pet sitter and dog walker concierge service company is “throwing the ball out of the park” and fortifying unbreakable bonds with pet owners every day.

The touchpoint that we are granting the Five Flames for is a very memorable postcard unexpectedly received in the mail.

Rover: Another Tech Disruptor

Rover is a pet concierge services technology platform where you can find pet sitters, walkers, and even house sitters that will watch your pets in your own home. Rover was part of the wave of industry disruptors when so many services moved online. Everything is done through the app and text messaging. Our team member, Kevin, and his husband have been using it for years, and they have a very trusted couple that walks their dogs three times a week, and also house sits frequently for them when they travel.

Hear what Kevin has to say about his experience. “Pets are already such an emotional trigger; I literally treat my dogs as my children. Rover is smart, and they tap into that with their services and messages. One of my favorite features is that you can choose to get a photo of your dog on their walk any time you want. It’s emotional when you’re 5,000 miles away on vacation and you get to see in real-time what your dogs are up to.”.  “Their tagline is “we’re the treat-your-dog-like-family dog people” which is exactly what we want when booking these services: someone who will treat our pets as good as we do.”

Pattern Interrupt

Earlier this week I was shocked to get a postcard in the mail from Rover. Every communication or marketing message from them had been on the app itself or online. My mind went to the two extremes: maybe I was getting a reward for using it so much during Covid or I was in trouble. I was definitely intrigued, and excited to see what was inside. As I opened it, I saw it was a simple postcard saying how grateful they were to have us in their community, how they knew 2020 was a tough year, and hoping this year is full of more good times with our dogs. They personalized it to mention our dogs and pet-sitters by name, pulling on all our emotional heartstrings.

It felt genuine and arrived in our mailbox just as things were started to open up again and we’d be more apt to use their services. Since they went omnichannel with their marketing, using a different channel than I was used to engaging with them on, it became such a memorable experience. By leveraging this additional and surprising channel to engage us, they strengthened the unbreakable bond between myself and Rover.  It became a meaningful moment that deepened my emotional connection with them.

Using a pattern interrupt such as utilizing a completely different marketing channel than what your customers are accustomed to can create a much more memorable & surprising #customerexperience #CX #PostCovidEconomy Click To Tweet

Client Appreciation Touchpoint

This is also a great example of a client appreciation touchpoint and a “thank you” strategy. I’m unsure if I received this because I had been using Rover quite often lately, or if they sent this to all customers; yet either way, it was a meaningful and genuine way to show pure appreciation to their clients. This is so rare. It often means more when you reach out to them in unexpected times as Rover did. People love to be rewarded, even when it’s simply a Thank You postcard.

Customers are always having an experience. Brands that intentionally design the experience, and the emotions along the way, experience better customers and exquisite brand loyalty.   Find out more at https://resonanceroadmaps.com/

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