The Customer Experience

During my High Performance Contracting Workshop I spend approximately three hours discussing the "Customer Experience" and "Creating Loyal Customer Relationships". The best way I can illustrate "The Experience" is by the following example:

Imagine you're sitting at home and getting hungry. You realize you have several options . . . You could go into your kitchen and throw a hot dog in to the microwave, you could make a sandwich, maybe eat some fruit, either one of these will probably meet your needs. You also have the option of getting into your vehicle and driving to the local fast food drive-thru or, you could take a bit of time, get dressed up see if you could get a seat at your favorite restaurant. Why you may even decide to go out and eat in luxury at the most expensive restaurant in town.

Any choice you make will satisfy your fundamental basic need to eat. So what point am I trying to make you ask? Well, the only difference between any of these choices is the fact that each experience of eating will be different from the others. Also, the price you pay for each will be very different. Your cost for eating may be anywhere from three dollars to one hundred and fifty dollars. It is all in what type of experience you want to have.

Many contractors and technicians fail to understand this fundamental fact. Customers will base the value of what you did, not on whether something works or does what it is supposed to do alone, But on the entire experience, from the moment you answer the phone, to the point when they write a check for your services. Everything you do in between will determine whether or not you meet or exceed their anticipated satisfaction level.

More to come on this subject later.