13 Oct I Have a Bone to Pick with Customer Experience
It was one of those, “You had to see it to believe it moments.” The man was holding the head of a seal carcass. It gets even more astonishing, but let me provide the background story.
I’m on vacation, walking with my SO along the beautiful Monterey, California harbor. The sun is shining, the weather is a glorious 72 degrees and we are relishing the quiet time. We look over at the harbor seals who are basking on rocks after a hard day of swimming and fishing for food. The next thing we knew, a man straddled the sea wall and began a descent on slippery rocks. The only thing we could imagine was he wanted to get a closer look at the seals. He came upon the well-deteriorated seal carcass and crouched down for an even closer look.
Then it happened. The man picked up the carcass head and looked at the remains. He yanked an intact bone from the carcass and put it in his pocket, all while showcasing the biggest grin. I wanted to look away, but I was paralyzed with disbelief.
Was this “Bone Collector” doing this because he was curious? Did he want attention? Is he simply a weird individual? Does it really matter?
Perhaps it’s the marketing geek in me, but whenever I witness an unusual behavior, I think about how that behavior applies to business.
Let’s pretend a scenario where the bone of the seal carcass head had been available in a store, all cleaned and presentable. Would this man pay the $1 asking price to have the bone? Would he take the time to negotiate the already-low price? I am going to guess not. I am going to go so far to think the man enjoyed the attention he was getting, even though it was negative, by climbing over the wall and down the rocks to rip the bone from the carcass. The stories he could later tell, and he had witnesses to collaborate! It was his desire for a rewarding personal experience (no matter how weird) that likely caused his actions.
For every product or service you sell, your customer has a perceived value that meets the price. In these ever-increasing competitive times, a business must set goals to exceed a customer’s ROI over the price. To do so means you must provide a positive, memorable customer experience.
In the case of the Bone Collector, the experience was being an active participant. His customer experience (doing something kind of naughty by ripping the bone from the carcass) exceeded his fear (price) of climbing on slippery rocks and/or getting caught by an official.
Of course you aren’t selling seal carcass bones, but the basic principle applies. Create the greatest, interactive experience possible to increase customer loyalty and referrals. This is why the painting-and-wine and making-dinners-with-a-chef establishments have been popular additions to the customer experience scene.
Your customer’s engaged buying experience adds value to your product or service. In this case, the story may seem fishy, but it sealed the deal.