Great service organizations know how to read their customers and respond.  Businesses who lose site or misunderstand who their customers are and what they want, or what matters most to them, are at risk.  It's the little misses that really weigh on me. For example,my husband and I were recently at a well-known home improvement store purchasing bags of mulch, 22 to be exact, and some plants.  As my husband was paying for our purchases, he asked if someone could load the mulch in our car.  The cashier said she would call for someone while my husband went and pulled the car around. As I was leaving, I didn't see the large rolls of plastic to line the back of our car, so I asked the cashier about it.  She scrambled around looking and finally told me that I would need to go to the front of the store to get the plastic.  I think we all know that the distance between lawn and garden and the front of the store isn't exactly close.  At this point, the car had been pulled up for the "someone" to load our car.  "Someone" casually strolled over to our car as I finished loading the last 3 bags of mulch into the car.  Big service misses here, don't you think?

From the lyrics of Carly Simon's song, Anticipation.... "is keeping me waiting."   Waiting and wondering are two very dangerous words in customer service, and yet I experience both, often.  How many times have you been in a store, hotel, restaurant, or doctor's office standing in line, where clearly the person behind the counter sees you, but does not acknowledge you?  They can look right at you, but choose to say nothing, and somehow they are comfortable with letting you stand and wait.  Is this a training issue, or an acceptable business practice for some businesses, or are some people wired in such a way that they don't understand or can't anticipate the effects of this on a consumer?

"We wildly underestimate the power of the tiniest personal touch."  -Tom Peters 

Managing anything can certainly have its ups and downs and much depends upon the success of the manager.  Think about the best managers you have ever had (or have). What qualities made you think of them first?  Chances are it had a lot to do with how they made you feel.  Managers (including teachers, parents, spouses, even friends) have the ability to impact each and every interaction either positively or negatively. The result of that influence is powerful and can certainly affect relationships, productivity, and even health. 

Something that is always relevant and seemingly misunderstood is the Customer Experience. Harley Manning and Kerry Bodine of Outside In defines this as, "Customer Experience is how your customers perceive their interactions with your company."  Here's some compelling proof on why this topic deserves focus and understanding: Over a recent 5-year period when S&P 500 was flat, a stock portfolio of customer experience leaders grew 22%!  

To further break down what's the "customer experience," it's the product and services you offer, how you manage your business, and what your brand stands for.  It 's what a customer perceives will happen when they try and buy your product, use it, and/or what would happen if there is a problem with it.

Getting an audience is hard.  Sustaining an audience is hard.  It demands a consistency of thought, of purpose, and of action over a long period of time.

- Bruce Springsteen

16 years ago Joseph Pine and James Gilmore wrote an incredibly insightful book called, The Experience Economy.  This book continues to be one of my favorite reference books. You might be thinking, "16 years ago isn't exactly current information and material to reference."  Well, think again because here's a timeless statement from the book, "If societies are to seek continued economic prosperity, they must stage experiences to add sufficient value to their economies to employ the masses (goods and services are no longer enough)." Creating memorable customer experiences must be a business discipline in all organizations who wish to survive and achieve successful longevity.