Anything That Is Immediately Gratifying Will Be Repeated   

“Anything that is immediately gratifying will be repeated.” Almost 15 years ago, that was Steve Wynn’s opening line of a keynote speech. Wynn, the founder and chairman of Wynn Resorts, went on to say, “The strongest force on earth is something that affects your self-esteem.” 

Wynn was talking about how leaders should treat employees. That is the inspiration for this article. My take on this is simple. When leaders can create a gratifying experience that builds self-esteem for employees, they create fulfillment. In other words, make someone feel good about what they are doing, and they will repeat it and want to keep growing to make it better. 

So, how can we create an experience that will be repeated?

Here are four ways: 

1. Praise Employees for a Job Well Done: If someone is doing a good job, let them know it. Celebrate their successes and wins. To do this, you must pay attention to what employees are doing. 

2. Thank Them for Their Hard Work: It’s one thing to say, “Great job.” It’s another to express genuine appreciation. Thank employees when they step up, work hard, and deliver on your expectations. 

3. Educate Employees and Make Them Smarter: Learning is akin to personal growth. Giving people an opportunity to grow will increase their confidence and self-esteem. That growth turns into better employee and customer experiences. 

4. Give Them Opportunities to Share Their Stories: This is the big one. In Wynn’s video, he shared the story of an employee who went “above and beyond” to help a hotel guest get their medicine delivered. That became their “North Star” of how employees should treat customers. I recently wrote about these types of stories and how important it is for an organization to not only find them but also share them with their teams. We have a tool I call the Moments of Magic® Card, and it’s the No. 1 culture-changing tool we share with our clients. This ongoing exercise has employees write a short example in just a few sentences about a positive customer or employee experience they created. These are shared at team meetings, and the best get shared throughout the entire company. Some clients compile the examples and assemble a book of their own legendary customer service stories. 

Share Their Stories

All four of these are important, but let’s emphasize the Share Their Stories idea. Toward the end of his speech, Wynn talked about how he shared the medicine story with all employees. It motivated others to create their stories. He also mentioned that beautiful chandeliers, handwoven fabrics, onyx, and marble are wasted investments if the customers aren’t treated well. Regardless of how beautiful his resorts are, employees make the difference. 

Stories from fellow employees create motivation, and it’s gratifying to them to be recognized and praised for their efforts. This is what gets the best behaviors and practices repeated, and what gets customers to say, “I’ll be back.”

Shep Hyken is a customer service/CX expert, award-winning keynote speaker, and New York Times bestselling author. Learn more about Shep’s customer service and customer experience keynote speeches and his customer service training workshops at www.Hyken.com. Connect with Shep on LinkedIn.