REI made me into an advocate

Dear REI,

Wow. I'm impressed. I'm going to convince every one of my friends who are even remotely outdoorsy to become members.

Last week I received your annual report of sorts. It was great: one part dividend (yay!), one part community-building (yes, I feel like I'm part of you!), and one part catalog (for planning that next purchase!). I felt elation, belonging, and even thrill. I immediately took the thing to my husband and said something like, "I can't believe what we get for being members!"

There's a lot to learn in your recent gesture about what I call affective customer experiences:

One. Notice the present tense in my reaction. "Get," not "got." My elation is due in part to the included dividend and 20% off coupon, but also to the fact that REI membership seems to keep giving. I know there will be more goodness down the line, and it keeps me expectantly excited.

Two. The good feeling is combined with an annual report that is rather transparent about your profit and outlook. The report is fascinating to me but also inclusive of me. In my spending and receiving, I feel like I'm a part of a different kind of capitalism altogether. It seems human and makes me feel good about how I'm spending my money. (This is a very different feeling than the one I got from AT&T, which declared me part of its family but has yet to give me a reason to believe.)

Three. I'm not sure you're giving me anything that other companies don't already give in one way or another. In the end, you're simply handing out a few discounts and rebates. What works is how you consistently position those rewards to make me feel excited, special, and engaged in something different and valuable.

Here's how your rewards have worked for me so far:

1) Last fall, I paid a one-time fee of $20 to be a lifetime member. I'm not sure if it was a special, but when I did it, I immediately got to take 20% off an item. I happened to be in REI to buy a couple Therm-a-Rest LuxuryCamp Sleeping Pads (oh yeah!), so I saved about $28 on one. In my case, the discount paid for the membership. I felt great.

2) At the end of the year, I got a 20% coupon. I had been contemplating buying a Yakima SkyBox Pro 18 Roof Box, and the 20% discount was the tipping point. I saved a bundle and felt great.

3) This month, you gave me a dividend, which was roughly 10% of my purchases (excluding the discounted items). You also gave me a 20% coupon. I'm excited to use them!

The difference between REI and the average company is that you consistently–even regularly–deliver what Zappos has called a WOW experience. Delivering this experience over time is what Brandon Schauer calls The Long Wow. "Wow" seems like the right word to me.

I'm not an active person so to me you're like Obama. I'm still learning what to expect, but if you run your company like you run your campaigns, then you will make me more than a lifetime member. I will truly be a lifetime advocate.

-joanie