Sell the Experience, Not the Product
If you want your company to grow, you must look for ways to make your business stand out.
Make your business stand out.
Not necessarily your product.
Because the truth is, your customers are buying more than your product.
What they’re really buying is an experience.
The experience of interacting with your company. The experience of owning your product. The experience of, well, experiencing your service.
It’s experiences, not possessions, that lead to greater happiness.
And if you can make your customers happy? You can keep them coming back for more.
Crafting a Memorable Experience for Your Customers
What does it take to provide an amazing experience? For starters, it does take a good product (and by product, I also mean service). You won’t get far selling smoke and mirrors. Always aim for A quality in anything you produce.
But experience goes beyond the thing you sell. It’s the feeling your customer gets when they do business with you.
The feeling your customer is looking for? It depends on who they are—reason 7,843 that it’s so important to understand your audience. It also depends on who you are—your values, your mission, your company’s identity.
In general, customers want to engage with companies that are frictionless, convenient, and pleasant to do business with.
But there are exceptions. For years, Carnegie Deli in NY was famous for its inhospitable waitstaff: tourists flocked to the deli for an “authentic” New York experience.
Your business might be selling authenticity. Or exclusivity. Or sustainability.
The point is that you need to figure out what kind of experience you’re selling—then make sure you deliver on that while simultaneously providing a great product.
(And although your audience may value sustainability over convenience, if you can also be convenient, that’s a major plus).
The Relationship Between ROI and Customer Experience
Let’s talk return on investment. Because it’s true, especially in a B2B setting, that your customers want tangible value from their engagement with you.
But not every company delivers ROI in the same way. If you free up a client’s time, help improve productivity, or even make someone happier, you are providing value—even if it can’t be precisely quantified in dollars and cents.
Not only that, but being a great vendor has its own kind of value. You’ll win extra goodwill if your customers like doing business with you. It’s not always easy to find a great partner—if you can be that for your customers, you’ve given them one less thing to worry about.
The Bottom Line: Experience Matters
If your customers feel good about the experience of working with you, they’ll want to keep doing it.
So figure out what kind of experience you should deliver—the intersection of what your customers want and who you are as a company.
Then, make that experience top-notch.
Need help determining what experience you want to offer? Learn how our Growth Consultants can help.
