Business Workouts: Customer Experience, the Newest Focus

I was recently confronted by a huge demonstration by a retail chain to deliver an exceptional customer experience. I asked a few questions and got the whole picture.

The chain called Trader Joe's has a significant commitment to high quality, reasonably priced, prepared foods. An upscale market place with competitive pricing, offering many interesting and unique offerings.

They employ three graphic artists to draw; paint and hand write the signage for 2000 product signs, each one illustrated and hundreds of specials, larger signs featuring specials and sales and are changed each week. Each sign features graphics, art work, and special calligraphy.

Here is the point, this one store invests in the production of hand crafted signs to produce a customer experience that depicts a feeling they want, a Caribbean vacation, homey, folksy, cute, friendly, inviting, comforting. Instead of utilizing standard, almost zero cost computer generated signage, the store invests $200,000 in an art department employing three graphic artists full time to help deliver a positive customer experience through these custom hand painted signs. Multiply times 334 stores for a total cost of about $60 million. Wow, that is some investment for custom drawn friendly, inviting, folksy signs. $60 million and it could be delivered for almost nothing if they did not respect the value of the customer experience.

People enjoy shopping at Trader Joe's and trust their prepared foods frozen entrees and assorted unique offerings to be high quality, very good and reasonably priced, and the signage supports this conclusion, thus the investment is deemed worthy. It works to deliver the customer experience they are looking to generate which results in exceptional bottom line performance.

Does it work? Absolutely.

There are unlimited ways to deliver a positive customer experience. Furniture stores that have 3D movies, candle companies that have large puppet shows, low pressure sales people that are informative and help but do not sell, extensive sampling, three piece string trio, piano, whatever it takes to deliver a positive customer experience. This supports a buying decision and a desire to return for more.

Try it, see how it can improve your customers experience, like hotels putting a piece of chocolate on the pillow and turning down the blanket...customer experience, it makes sense.