Want to Serve Your Customers Better? Give 'Em a NUDGE!

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In today’s competitive environment, customer service is often the deciding factor in whether a customer stays loyal or looks elsewhere. Over my career, I have found one simple yet powerful way to consistently exceed expectations: RAFT+NUDGE.

I developed this approach to transform support into a true differentiator, making customers feel heard, valued, and never forgotten.

What Is RAFT+NUDGE?

• RAFT (Respond And Follow Through): A mindset that ensures every customer knows exactly when they will hear back.

• NUDGE (Next Update Due for a Great Experience): A process where, at the end of every interaction, whether by phone, email, or chat, the customer is given a specific, measurable next update.

Not “by the end of the day,” but “no later than 5:00 p.m. Eastern Time today.” The key is accountability. Teams are measured to meet their NUDGEs 100% of the time.

Why It Works

When customers trust you have not forgotten them, you build loyalty and reduce frustration. Even if resolution takes time, customers remain satisfied because they feel informed and respected.

At Emory Healthcare, for example, our Help Desk messages were updated with exact times, never stale, not even by a minute. That trust reduced executive escalations and freed agents to focus on solving issues instead of explaining outages.

At Gartner, we used a Follow-The-Sun model. By applying NUDGE (then called “NCD: Next Contact Due”), tickets handed off across regions carried clear follow-up expectations, ensuring continuous 24/7 service. Traveling employees could rely on updates aligned to their local time zones, building confidence that support was always with them.

NUDGE in Everyday Life

What makes NUDGE powerful is its universality. It is not just for IT or corporate support, it applies to any service experience.

• Macy’s Black Friday Sofa Delivery: After purchasing, I received updates at every stage. A confirmation the next day, reminders two days before, a text with a two-hour delivery window, an automated call narrowing it to 12:30, and finally, a driver call at 12:15. The sofa arrived exactly when promised. Seamless. Stress-free. Macy’s NUDGE’d me.

• Pest Control Appointment: A local company gave me a 9–11 a.m. service window. The day before, they sent a reminder email. At 9:30 a.m., Joe called and said, “I will be there in 20.” Simple, proactive, and respectful of my time.

Imagine the Alternative

Airlines are another classic example. For years, nothing was more frustrating than seeing a flight listed as “On Time” when the incoming aircraft had not even landed yet. Or standing at the gate past boarding time with no updates at all. Once airlines began sharing the status of incoming flights and updating boarding times with precision, they built more trust, even when delays were unavoidable. That is RAFT+NUDGE in action.

Think of the infamous cable installation scenario.

• Without RAFT+NUDGE: You are told someone will arrive between 8:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. You wait all day, with no updates, until a technician shows up at 3:45 p.m. Frustrating.

• With RAFT+NUDGE: You are told you are sixth on the list, with updates promised at 1:30 p.m. and then at 3:15 p.m. At 3:15, they confirm a 3:45 arrival, and they show up as promised. You may not love the wait, but you appreciate the communication and can plan your day around it.

The Result: Loyalty and Trust

RAFT+NUDGE transforms the customer experience by:

• Managing expectations with clarity.

• Reducing escalations to executives.

• Freeing teams to focus on resolution, not damage control.

• Building trust and loyalty even when resolution takes time.

Closing Thought

Great service is not just about solving problems quickly. It is about making people feel confident you have not forgotten them. By adopting a RAFT mindset and giving every customer a NUDGE, you show respect for their time and build the kind of trust that creates lasting loyalty.

So next time you interact with a customer, remember: Give ’Em a NUDGE!