As a marketer, my goal has always been to “Delight the Customer”, “Exceed the Customer’s Expectations”, or (a la Seth Godin) create a Purple Cow.  As a consumer, however, I find that only rarely are my expectations exceeded.

My expectations were far exceeded last year at the Bug Zoo during a visit to Victoria, Canada.  This is a particularly amazing accomplishment given that our other Victoria stops included Buchart Gardens and the Victoria Butterfly Gardens.  My daughter and I entered the Bug Zoo and joined a tour that was already in progress. 

I don’t think we were in the Bug Zoo for more than 10 minutes before I was holding an Emperor scorpion in my hand!  After that, I was hooked.  (OK, not literally.)  Later in the tour, I found myself volunteering to have a 400 leg millipede placed on my forehead.  One of the children on a previous tour commented, “It feels like a dancing toothbrush!”  Luckily the cockroaches and the giant tarantula remained safely in their respective displays.  Cockroaches are too fast and this particular tarantula was too big and fragile to be handled safely.

We expected our visit to the Bug Zoo to take about an hour.  We were still happy to be there over two hours later.  What made our Bug Zoo visit extraordinary was that our guide, Steve:

• Got us involved by allowing us to hold almost all of the bugs that were on display.
• Was very knowledgeable on the subject of bugs (insects, spiders, and other arthropods).
• Took time to answer every question
• Clearly loved his job.

If you would like to share an example of a product, service, or organization that has exceeded your expectations, please do so by clicking here.