Mediameme

So I am at Trader Joe’s, deciding which line to stand in so I can pay for my groceries. There are only two cashiers available, one is taking the items out of the cart, scanning and bagging in a fluid motion. The customer is waiting for the process to be completed so she can pay. The other cashier has one customer bagging and her husband/ boyfriend/ partner/ whatever is removing the items from the cart and placing them on the counter for the cashier to scan. Which line would you pick?

I picked the cashier who understood service. After taking a good hour wheeling around their frightful little store, bagging my groceries should not be an optional experience after I’ve decided to spend $250 or so on my weekly food shop. Plus, in the minute it took for me to assess the situation, the uber-competent cashier finished off 3 bags while the team of 3 were arguing amongst themselves about whether their tomatoes were ‘cherry’ or ‘grape’ and bagging nothing. In fact they had basically ground to a halt.

This twilight zone moment also served as an illustration about companies engaging in social media. Some companies do a nice job of constructing a robust, flexible architecture for customers and evangelists to exchange their thoughts, opinions, photos, videos, reviews, etc in order to democratize access to the brand. There is a community manager who seems to know what’s going on and is responsible for not just knowing the rules, but facilitating the experience.

Other companies set up experiments in isolation: a MySpace page or a Facebook group or, worse, a social network on their brand web site, expecting the old adage “if you build it, they will come” to miraculously apply. And sadly, a few loyalists may visit…and then they disappear quicker than Hitler took Poland. It simply doesn’t occur to these companies that they might actually have to do more heavy lifting in terms of developing a two-way conversation and investing more than they expect (e.g. free) to build and support the social media infrastructure correctly so it actually facilitates the brand experience.

And yet, just like my experience at Trader Joe’s, any visitor can immediately see which ‘system’ works better — which brand they would rather associate with and become part of their community.

Thinking about exceptional experiences, I am drawn to the companies who are the proverbial ‘poster children’ for delivering on their brand promise: Apple, Nordstrom, Whole Foods, Google and BMW.

Like many people, I am a blend of logic and emotion when it comes to the buying experience. I want value for money but also something that I can get excited about and look forward to experiencing, particularly if I’m paying a premium for that product or service or brand association. So how to define my experience with their brand that was truly exceptional? And were there other examples I was overlooking? I went “old school” to the SERVQUAL dimensions developed nearly 20 years ago by Valerie Zeithaml and associates:

1. Understanding. The company needs to do their homework and understand what consumers (will) want before designing a product or service. Who knew we needed another device to play our music on-the-go before Apple launched the i-pod?

2. Communication. Listening, clarifying consumer needs and setting reasonable expectations for delivery. And then exceeding the communicated objectives in a delightful way, demonstrating the company implicitly understands the first criteria: understanding of what the consumer wants.

3. Accessibility. Whether it is the web site that is easy to navigate, a store that is open during hours convenient to customers (rather than a balance sheet) or a brand representative who is approachable, knowledgeable and trustworthy, being accessible is an important part of any exceptional experience.

4. Security. Maslow had to enter into this somewhere. Providing freedom from danger, risk, fear or doubt. Consider it conversely: could an experience be exceptional without this dimension?  Whole Foods understands the significance of this particular dimension.  Through education, it is waging advocacy campaigns warning consumers about the dangers of genetically-modified food, demanding all milk products be labeled if they contain r(BGH) and promoting locally-grown products.

5. Credibility. Do I trust this brand? Was the experience honest? Believable? Authentic?  Google is a terrific example of this important dimension.

6. Respect. Anyone who knows me  IRL, knows this is perhaps THE most important dimension to me. Are the representatives friendly? Courteous? Considerate? Does their copy (user manual, web site, print advertising) help or hinder the user experience with their brand?

7. Competence. ‘Nuf said.

8. Responsiveness. Prompt service. Calls are returned. Problems are dealt with as a priority until they are fixed to the customer’s satisfaction.  Nordstrom wrote the book on this subject.

9. Reliability. Does the service or product perform the promised service dependably and accurately?  Gotta pick BMW as the classic example here.

10. Product or Environment. What is their store environment like? Is their product well-designed and user-friendly? Does it put a smile on your face to interact with the brand?  Apple.  Again.

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Does this model work for you to determine an exceptional experience? Why or why not? What is your example of an exceptional experience?