The three secrets to creating happy customers – in fact raving fans – are: Determine what you want to do; discover what the customer wants to do; and deliver plus 1 percent.

When I talk to business groups, I always ask, “How many of you think customers are important?” Everybody always raises their hands. Then I ask, “How many of you would like to have customers who are raving fans?” Everybody raises their hands again. The real question is, who actually is willing to install the systems that create raving fans?

For example, I don’t particularly believe in having an employee of the month but an employee of the moment. We call it Eagle of the Moment at our company. This means that any time anybody exceeds a customer’s expectations, whether it’s an internal or external customer, we celebrate it.

With some companies we have set up eagles’ nests so that when people spot an eagle in flight – an employee delivering outstanding service – they can call an eagle’s nest and use a Polaroid camera to catch the eagle in flight.

This idea was implemented almost immediately at Saturn Corporation. The night before I went to Tennessee to do a session for their customer-service people, I got a call from a man named Milt Garret of Garret Consulting, who supports the concept of raving fans in an unusual fashion. Milt had heard I was at Saturn and wanted to tell me the story about what Saturn did for his wife.

Although his wife, Jane, had been diagnosed with cancer five years ago, she was able to beat it. Last year when Milt got home from training, Jane said to him, “Tomorrow is a special day. It’s the fifth anniversary of my being diagnosed with cancer.”

He said that he tried to be creative and really make it a special day, but somehow he didn’t feel he made it special enough. So the next day, which was a Monday, he went to the Saturn dealership because his wife liked Saturns and had wanted one for a long time, but didn’t want to pay the expense because their son was still in college.

Milt met with a salesman and put money down on a Saturn for Jane. Later that week, when he was on the road he found out from one of his kids that Jane wanted a white Saturn.

So he called up the dealer and asked if they had any white Saturns. The man at the dealership said they only had one, so Milt asked if they would save it for him. The salesman asked if he was sure that Jane really wanted it because they were selling eight cars a day, and they couldn’t guarantee that it would be there unless he could commit to purchasing it. Milt told him to save the white car for him.

When Milt got home on Saturday, he took Jane out for a ride and told her that he had to stop by Saturn to get some information on a session that he was doing the next day. He asked Jane to come in with him. As they walked into the showroom, the dealership had moved the white car right into the center of the showroom. Jane went to it like a magnet, opened the door, got in, got out and said, “Milt, isn’t this a beautiful car?”

She walked around to the front of the car and all of a sudden let out a yell and started crying. Milt ran to her to ask her what was wrong. She pointed to a sign that read, “Congratulations, Jane – 5 Years Cancer Free – Here’s to Life! From Milt, your salesman, and the Saturn dealership.”

What Milt didn’t realize was that they had moved all of the customers and the people outside so that Jane could enjoy the moment with some privacy. When they saw her and Milt hug, the people outside started to applaud.

The folks at the Saturn dealership really put raving fans principles into practice. When I did the session and talked about this employee of the moment, they immediately put an eagle’s nest in, and they’re already operating it. It wasn’t even a discussion; they just put it into operation. Their whole commitment to the customer is pervasive and sincere.

Real winners don’t talk about service. They just provide it. If they hear a good idea that can help improve service, they implement it.

The whole concept of deliver plus-one is not just a theory, it’s something you live by. So if you have a good idea, put it into action. Pick the best new idea that can make you that much better and focus on making it a reality in your organization. Then celebrate it with an eagle’s nest moment.