Ever wonder what makes great businesses GREAT?
I believe a key to this success is the “Experience”. This “Experience” created by you and your organization can minimize in your customers eyes the ($$$) cost factor of the product or service you provide.
You see, what they walk away with, that feeling, can really only be verbalized two ways. They either liked it or they didn’t. It makes no difference what you business is, if you serve the public then those are the choices. The proverbial gossip about their “Experience” will be shared with others afterwards. Successful smart businesses recognize this and do whatever they can to have the that be reflected in a positive manner.
It is this reason as to why I start this blog, my first blog I might add. My passion is the managing of this so called “Experience”. I believe that marketing, sales, business development, and customer service, all speak to this. Along the way I can share thru my experiences past and present; what I have noticed, what I have thru trial and error done, and what others have shared with me. My hope is that this would be an interactive exchange of communication, successes, and information. We can all learn from each other.
Best of luck, and cheers to all of our successes.
Lee
14 Comments
October 3, 2009 at 5:43 pm
Hey Lee….I agree, a good experience will send you back for more. If the experience is bad, many “passive agressive locals” won’t complain or argue, they will avoid the bad experience and never return.
October 3, 2009 at 6:12 pm
Thanks Joy…
October 3, 2009 at 8:07 pm
Nicely done King.
October 3, 2009 at 9:05 pm
Thank you Larry…
October 4, 2009 at 8:00 am
Lee, you are a really good guy, super honest and a bit quirky, good qualities we should all strive for! Go for it on the blog, and don’t forget to fold in your golf wisdom. Remember, line up the words with the hole and it will go in, maybe.
October 4, 2009 at 8:50 am
LOL, Thanks Mark.
October 4, 2009 at 5:32 pm
Lee,
Excellent idea to write about this topic. Very broad and little understood concepts.
I once heard my long ago Boss said “People do Business with People they like”. Simple. But I have come to understand that “like” really means “trust”. Much harder to earn trust and much easier to lose. But “Trust” starts with “like”. If there is no interest, why would your client want to work so hard as it takes to learn if you can be trusted.
So every time I have the chance, I would prefer (i.e. rather than talk about “business” or what I have to “sell”) to give of myself, explain who I am, what I am interested in and see if the client is interested in doing the same. If they are, then listen. Really listen. See if you have things in common. To this day, I find such wonder and joy is discovering what others are interested in and how universal our collective ambitions are.
Listening is not easy and does not come naturally to lots of people. But it is not possible to build trust without that ability to hear and understand what the other is looking for. ANd if you can be apart of their success, your in business. And if you can’t, so force it. I will never be in your interest or theirs.
October 4, 2009 at 10:24 pm
Thanks for the feedback Don… Listening is a key component.
October 5, 2009 at 4:43 pm
Right out of the gate – good stuff Lee, thank you for sharing.
I was talking with a friend this weekend about how our mind is already made up before we even hit the showroom floor on whether we are going to make a purchase or not. I think you hit it dead-on with how great businesses flourish when they focus on “the experience”. Even if I absolutely cannot live without upgrading my latest widget purchase at the Apple store, if I had a less than stellar experience, I may not return to that outlet. People like genuine people. Period.
On a related note, a great deal of attention has been buzzing around designing for user experience, aka UX. I think a lot of those ideals can be applicable to business acumen and customer retention strategies as well. Consider Google’s top ten principles that contribute to a great Google experience: http://www.google.com/corporate/ux.html
October 5, 2009 at 6:24 pm
Thanks Michelle… great feedback and thanks for sharing an example. I will definitely check out Google’s Top Ten Principles. Cheers. Lee
October 6, 2009 at 2:07 am
Congrats on the birth of your blog! You have many jewels to share, but try as your readers might to emulate you, there is only ONE LEE HOPKINSON and YOU DA BESTEST!!!
October 6, 2009 at 2:45 am
Thanks for the very kind words Cheryl…. Lee
October 13, 2009 at 2:43 am
Thanks for your blog. Great perspectives.
October 13, 2009 at 4:26 pm
Thank you Tom.