Understand the customer experience you are creating.

Between you and the competition, it often just comes down to how you make people feel.

The two characters in the photo are experts. Every waking moment, they are interested in what you are doing, how you feel and having fun. If you call them, they are there in a flash, eager, excited, attentive. When you think about it, the main reason people have dogs is because of how they make us feel. There is a real cost in care and maintenance, but the ROI is X 1000.

The analogy here is obvious. How do we make our customers feel? Think about your experience at a new restaurant. Hospitality is to business, as live comedy is to entertainment. In a restaurant the experience is real-time. You succeed or fail in moments and your time to recover from a slip, is measured in seconds and minutes. Your customer is right in front of you, reviewing your performance and discussing it with their friends.

The only reason you feel less exposed in your own business is because there is a “comfortable” distance – real or created – between you and your customers. It protects you from the feeling the scrutiny, but it also reduces the intimacy and awareness of how your customers really feel.

Quick take-outs from this challenge:

You know how to review a restaurant, you do it often. From the time you approach it on the street to the moment you step back out the door. What is the first thing you would say to your guest or partner as you leave? How did it make you feel?

Follow your customer’s journey. Try visiting or calling your business as a customer. Perhaps start at a search engine exploring your needs. What will you type? Who would you visit? Phone up or walk through your website with a specific need and questions in mind.

Are you welcomed like a lost friend, is your every need met with enthusiasm or at least energy? Do the same exercise with your main competitor. This process will cost you an hour. What you learn could be priceless.

Ideas around the challenge of business. #onemilliondetails "Business is pretty simple really. All it takes is getting about a million little details right!"