Submitted by: James R. Gulnick, author for American Femtik
It’s all in the experience. You can always lose on price but no one can duplicate an experience, there is always something different.
All you have is experience…
People don’t want coffee; they want a comfortable place to sit and have interesting conversation with soft jazz music playing in the background. They don’t want their oil changed; they want coffee in the waiting room, a clean carpet, fresh donuts, and a variety of magazines that suit their taste. They don’t want a dinner; they want a restaurant with a personality, to be catered to, a friendly staff that knows exactly when the customer needs something, yet leaves them alone if they want private time and a completely stress free evening.
“People don’t want the product, they want the experience.”
They want an experience so unique that it creates a small little compartment in their brain – creating new memories, images, tastes, smells, sounds, and touches – that can only be traced back to you. If your business is just like everyone else’s, then you run the risk of adding to the memories associated with some other business. You run the risk of your business being filed into the bland mediocre garbage can of a melting pot memory if you are not creating uniquely distinguishing characteristics or points of differentiation.
Who cares if the food is good…
For instance, you walk into a restaurant and there’s a clown with a white face and big red nose in black tails with a top hat on a tightrope. He’s walking between two posts while juggling three smoking and flaming torches while four huge green menacing alligators snap at his feet from below. Chances are you’d remember that and tell someone. You’d smell the smoke, hear the crowd, see the flames, feel the excitement, and remember the scene. You couldn’t help tell someone else about it, show them the pictures, or let them see your video on the website.
Think about “Medieval Knights” – is the food any good? Does it matter? Without the show, the food would be as good as any other decent restaurant that made you eat with your hands.
“If I can’t remember it or recognize it, it doesn’t exist.”
Does your business make your customers eat with their hands? Do you make your customers work too hard without a payoff? Do you recognize your customers’ unique set of expectations and are you willing to pony up with the goods to satisfy their needs and give them more than a cup of coffee? If your customers can’t recognize you in a crowd, you don’t exist.
A Quality Management System sets in place sustainable strategies for identifying the expectations and requirements of your customers. It establishes a structured methodology for involving your employees and forming an Emotional EngagementTM with your customers. It allows you to wow your customers, create a unique experience, and keep them coming back for more.
James R. Gulnick is an author and business leader who writes for American Femtik. He helps companies realize their goals through process improvement, documentation, and training with a focus on ISO. Visit www.ISBOX.us.
