This is a big week at Sanera as I’m starting a third Sanera Camp (small business boot camp) class in two days. As I’ve been preparing for it, the idea of customer experience is in all my thoughts. Last December, my friend and blogger, Michael Long, asked me to write about this very topic. Even though you may not be Christmas shopping (or perhaps some of you incredibly organized people are), the lesson continues to be relevant and important for small business owners to understand. Enjoy!
As I was searching the web for Christmas presents, I came across this wonder of modern science.
Yes! For a mere investment of $9.98 you can purchase a microwaveable s’mores maker. This handy gadget will help you eliminate burned fingers and drippy chocolate.
And that is the problem.
You see, making s’mores is not just about the s’mores. It’s about the experience – your eyes burning from the wood smoke, taking your mittens off to break the graham crackers in 1/2, practicing your timing over the fire so the marshmallows are toasty but not charred, futily trying to get the marshmallow spread over the chocolate without breaking the graham crackers, laughing at your friend who has sticky, chocolatey marshmallow goo on his face.
What does this have to do with sales?
The Experience You Provide is as Important as the Solution
Quite simply, the s’mores gadget solves problems, but eliminates the meaningful experience.
“People make buying decisions at an emotional level and justify those decisions with logic.” Kelley Robertson
Every great sales coach will tell you that if you want to make money, you need to find people’s pain points and solve their problems. That is true, but it’s not enough. You must solve people’s problems and provide them with a powerful, positive, emotional experience. Each interaction you have with your clients, from the moment they visit your website or read your tweets to the moments after they purchase something from you is building a series of experiences. It is the accumulation of these experiences that will cause your clients to become loyal and long-term or to look somewhere else.
What can you begin to do today that will go beyond solving a problem for your clients and create an indelible experience that will generate customer excitement, word of mouth advertising and ultimately increased sales?
