An astonishing amount of our behavior involves signaling — communicating our intentions, trustworthiness, values, et cetera. But for a signal to be reliable, it needs to be costly. People can lie. Signals that come at expense to the sender are more reliable.

This is easily observable in nature — a stag’s antlers are a handicap, but signal true fitness since they can survive despite them.

Costly signaling also explains many quirky human behaviors. People often tilt their head when having their photo taken, which exposes the jugular vein. Dilated pupils — a sign of affection — limit our field of vision. Being skinny in a world of abundance signals self-discipline and fitness. Committing to the great expense of TV advertising is a costly signal regardless of the advert itself. Examples are everywhere.

Costly signaling also explains the success of many CX initiatives. Often improvements are impactful not because of the added value to the customer per se, but because of what they cost the provider and what that signals.

As such, anything that demonstrates discretionary effort or thoughtfulness stands out, however trivial. Such opportunities are everywhere and — best of all — it’s greatly rewarding to make others feel special, regardless of the benefit to you.

See this post on LinkedIn