I read this good post on Peter Bregman's How We Work HBP blog that made a lot of sense to me on multiple dimensions. 

Some of my take aways :

• More often than not, the secret to customer loyalty lies in the little wows that you can generate across the customers' experience of your product or service. 
• The web of little wows across the experience life cycle involves contribution from across your workforce - thus making it harder to implement. And harder to copy & replicate too - thus a sustainable competitive advantage. 
• A CIO I recently met was explaining about how his IT service help desk is the entry point for new IT graduates into his organization. Questioned on how he attracts top quality graduates into a help desk role, he answered that he looks at candidates for what they could be in the future - technical architects, business analysts, etc. - rather than just their fit into the help desk role. This potential based perspective also governs the way these candidates are treated & groomed at their first job. Sounds quite similar at Four Seasons too - potential to grow, potential to move to another resort, etc. 
• Great way to build trust - create an opportunity to fulfill a commitment, even when one doesn't naturally exist, and then fulfil it. This can so effectively be used across the experiential lifestyles of a customer. And when not practiced consistently, could just as easily build mistrust too. 

Nice article.