From Impressed to Obsessed: 12 Principles for Turning Customers and Employees into Lifelong Fans

If you’re aspiring to satisfy your customers, then you’re aspiring to mediocrity. 

That’s the fascinating premise of From Impressed to Obsessed, a book that will fundamentally change how you think about creating a successful, beloved business.

Acclaimed customer experience expert Jon Picoult explains why building customer loyalty requires leaving indelible positive impressions on everyone you work with―not just shaping their experiences, but also shaping their memories.  

Picoult explores the cognitive science behind great customer experiences, pinpointing the breakthrough, psychology-based strategies that both industry leaders (like Apple, Disney, and Southwest Airlines) as well as fast-growing startups (like BILT and Framebridge) use to shape people’s perceptions and sculpt unforgettable impressions―thereby turning more sales prospects into customers, and more customers into obsessed brand ambassadors.

Packed with intriguing case studies, engaging stories, and eye-opening research, the book details these proven principles and illustrates how they can be applied to almost any type of business or customer. Examples include cases that show how to: 

•Create Peaks & Avoid Valleys―leverage the science of memory to etch positive impressions in people’s minds, by creating greater experiential peaks and fewer experiential valleys.

•Give the Perception of Control―the almost magical power of giving customers a sense of agency, via choice and expectation-setting, causing them to feel better about the experience a business is already delivering.

•Make It Effortless―make interactions easy for customers, not just from a physical perspective, but also a cognitive one, to satisfy today’s demand for simplicity and convenience.

•Stir Emotion―harness the power of emotion as a memory cue, by infusing customer experiences with emotional resonance, highlighting positive feelings while stemming negative ones.

No matter what kind of constituency you serve―customers or colleagues, individuals or institutions, employees or employment candidates―this book will help you do it with distinction. Picoult’s message is particularly relevant for managers, as he shows the parallels between how great companies cultivate engagement with customers, and how great leaders accomplish the same with their workforce.

From Impressed to Obsessed reveals the what, the why, and― most importantly―the how behind great customer experiences. Filled with actionable insights, the book provides an invaluable roadmap for becoming the company that everyone wants to do business with, the employer everyone wants to work for, and the leader everyone wants to follow.  

Jon Picoult helps organizations impress their customers and inspire their employees, creating “raving fans” that drive business growth.  He is the founder of Watermark Consulting and a noted authority on customer and employee experience.

A sought-after business advisor and accomplished public speaker, Jon’s insights have been featured by dozens of media outlets, including the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times, Harvard Business Review, and Forbes.  He has worked with the CEOs and executive teams at some of the world’s foremost brands, helping companies build powerful loyalty in both the marketplace and the workplace.

Prior to establishing Watermark, Jon held senior executive roles at Fortune 100 companies.  Early in his career, at the age of 29, he earned the distinction of becoming the youngest executive officer in the over 150-year history of a leading, global financial services firm.

Jon received his bachelor’s degree in cognitive science from Princeton University and his M.B.A. in general management from Duke University.