What differentiates you from your competitors? How can you stand out from the crowd?

Look hard into what your organization provides: your products and services, your delivery systems, your employee’s attitudes and the way you build relationships with customers. But what truly differentiates your organization from the rest?

Customers today are not just buying product and services, they are expecting an experience. For example, customers visit Starbucks not just for the coffee, but also for the comfy chairs, great smells, trendy people, and free WiFi. Starbucks’ goal is to be the “Third Place” in our daily lives, another place you visit regularly, just like home and work. They understand what differentiates them is the best possible customer experience.

Sad to say, many organizations still miss the point. Service is not about what you do. Service is your customer’s experience from what you do.
To illustrate the importance of the customers’ experience, I share my colleague’s recent experience at a local spa.