''Today, we don’t sell ‘things and services’ anymore. We sell experience and people are paying for experience.''
People spend 70 dollars for a dinner for two – pan fried dory with potato chips and lobster cream sauce – in an upscale restaurant on the high street. Why do people spend that much when they can have the pan-fried dory and its side-kicks at a fraction of that price? Just 24 dollars for 2 at a standard fast food joint or 10 dollars for 2 when we get the battered frozen dory fillets and dip them in oil ourselves. It’s the same stuff, tastes the same and fills you up the same – yet, we still find ourselves walking into the posh restaurant whenever there’s a bit more cash in the pocket. Is it the class? Is it the association to success? Is it the ambience – maybe the chandeliers, the gold wallpapering and heavy chairs? The font on the menu? The exquisite cutlery? Is it the well-attired, extremely well-mannered waiters? Most people do not make a list of these attributes in their minds, but they will agree with one thing – it gives you a great experience, so you feel good everytime. If you make people feel good, they will pay you. And they will come back for more.
Today, we don’t sell ‘things and services’ anymore. We sell experience and people are paying for experience. It started by bundling of products with instruction manuals, free installations, 24-hour toll free feedback and enquiry phonelines, on-line help and forums – all of which influence the overall experience of buying and using the product. Then we added posh looking packages and carrier-bags, membership privileges, club facilities, newsletters, free information and cross product offers. Now, we are tracking the experience all the way – from first day to the last. This is becoming increasingly important as most businesses are offering the ‘experience’ via on-line facilities, from accessing the service, conducting the transactions, checking on updates, sharing information, seeking new product and service offers, making that appointment, confirming the booking, arranging payments and making delivery arrangements. Things have to be in working order around the clock, because someone wants to make their next purchase or check out the features of the new product.
The impact of this on business? The chain of internal processes must be able to respond to the expected customer experience. Delivering the product to the uptown retail store alone is not going to be sufficient. Internal processes need to be redesigned and optimized in a major way and to do this, business must know what is their customers’ current experience, what are their expectations, how can this be met and what needs to be done at the back-end to maintain their competitiveness on the front end. Business must therefore understand the dynamics of customer experience, its impact of their competitiveness and future revenue flows, its implications on back-end processes and determine the process improvements/tools that can be engaged to drive and maintain high levels of customer experience.
The General Guideline to this will be two-pronged – first, understanding the Customer Experience Dimensions and Scores (where we uncover and decipher the missing elements in achieving the desired customer experience) and second, incorporating the missing elements into current operations by engaging the right Tools and Processes. For each level, key questions that need to be answered will be:
Understanding the Customer Experience Dimensions and Scores
What defines your brand?
What are the prompt-factors and drag-factors at the point of sale?
What is your customer’s experience throughout the consumption lifecycle?
What is the mismatch between the brand’s value proposition and actual value received by the customer?
How are existing and new revenue streams impacted by this experience?
In Part 2 -Tools and Processes for Experience Enhancement
Which experience elements form the crucial backbone for delivering the desired experience?
How do you improve your back-end processes and front-end appeal to address the gaps in the experience elements?
What are the emerging tools that can be deployed by your business to maintain its customer experience? How does early signaling work in maintaining the experience elements
How do you retain high customer experience in the long run?
By answering the above, the management especially those mandated with marketing, sales and relationship management can drive the intended outcomes and provide customers with quality service and experience. Its not just about bolstering the sales figures and building superior brand reputation, its about delivering a great experience and making everyone happy – truly a winning business formula!