Good experience is not a new idea
I just read David Armano’s post “Experience, Social, Word of Mouth. Is it All Just Advertising?” on the “Experience Matters” blog. Once again, an excellent post, but this time I was struck by one of the comments.
David Cushman wrote:
good customer exp, whether delivered by human or device, is all it takes to delight us into becoming advocates in a world sadly lacking in said good exps. but brands will learn and then we’ll take what delights us for granted. would the cycle start over i wonder?
I agree with the first part. Whatever tricks or techniques may be used to establish branding for a business, product, or service, the most effective approach is to simply provide a good experience. Or is it not that simple? All businesses talk about it, but as Mr. Cushman notes, a good customer experience is still rare and still notable when it happens.
However, he then goes on to say, “brands will learn”, and unfortunately that’s where I disagree. Doing the right thing is not a new idea — oh wow, look at this, why didn’t we ever think of it before? — something we’ve just discovered and now all businesses will be jumping on the bandwagon. If there’s any bandwagon, it’s the one businesses have already jumped on where they all talk about customer service, and quality products, and providing a good experience, and “your call is important to us.” Too bad they don’t get off the wagon and do something. I do not foresee the day when “we’ll take what delights us for granted.”
Excellent news, I suppose, for any business that does know how to provide a good experience.
Or do most of us really know how, and the magic is in caring enough to actually do it?