That Thing Starbucks Does…

Sales is no longer just about the product. It’s about the entire customer experience. Consider how companies like Starbucks and Apple have differentiated their brands: it’s not just the coffee; it’s the personalized service and welcoming environment. It’s not just the computers; it’s the opportunity to schedule an appointment with a concierge to learn about the latest and coolest technology. These interactions didn’t happen accidentally – they have been designed in a highly creative way.

Your organization, by plan or by default, creates a customer experience. Your customers, in turn, respond to that experience with their loyalty (retention revenue), growth (penetration revenue), and referral of new customers (acquisition revenue).

Methods we’ve studied include evaluating the current experiences of your customers, and implementing creative ways to improve those interactions and differentiate your organization, and advancing customer connections from Interaction, to Engagement, to Relationship.

Important considerations include:

Customer experience within a larger sales strategy context.
Understanding how customers see your organization.
Understanding how your customers respond to the experiences you currently create.
Identifying all of your customer touch points.
Building a set of planned interactions across all of those touch points.
Leveraging the creative process to create a distinct and differentiating environment for your customers.
Customer experience within a larger sales strategy context.
Customer behavior assessment – Understanding how customers value your organization by how they behave.
Clue analysis – Identifying critical clues to indicate how you might improve.
Designing the right customer experience.
Building a set of planned interactions across your key touch points.
Creating a consistent experience across your sales organization.
Leveraging the creative process to create a distinct and differentiating environment for your customers.