Monday 2 June 2008

Exceptional Customer Expereinces


How does one define an exceptional customer experience? It is the exceptional, the unique, one of a kind. And usually one we are willing to pay for it.

Case in point, Michael Stadtlander. For those of you not familiar with one of the humblest and most famous chefs in Canada, you can check out this NY Times article. But let's just say, from the way he thinks about food, to the quality of the produce, the flavours and tastes to the execution of the experience his restaurant is on everyone's list I know of things to do before they die.


Sadly for me, I missed his wonderful Leek and Maple Syrup festival day last weekend due to illness. But Peter was lucky enough to go and my mom happily replaced me. Peter said it was one of the best examples of a brilliant customer experience that he had ever had. Not to mention the food. Top chefs. The attention to detail. And the creation of environment that was as exceptional as the food.


What does this have to do with marketing? As our world becomes more and more disposable and as products become easily replicated and distributed commodities, brands abilities to create exceptional customer experiences (wherever they may be) that cannot be replicated is going to be a major theme. Personally, if they are as yummy as Stadtlander, I can't wait!

3 comments:

David Himel said...

Absolutely true, but maybe just maybe brands might be replaced with microbrands like Mike and then we can all realise that exceptional customer service is usually experienced when the vendor has an actual connection to the customer. Fear of reprisal is one of the the greatest motivators in the human psyche, and the bigger the brand the more they concentrate on indifference and fearlessly march into the breach of customer disservice!

Leigh said...

Actually that's a good point Dave. I wonder if larger brands will start to get replaced by Microbrands and what that might look like in the future. A sorta back to the future where we knew who our local shop keepers were. Food for thought (oh this post is making me hungry!)

David Himel said...

A little prediction:
Web 2.0 will create a new economy with no centre mass, a series of micro ebays where webbuzz will create a virtual craft market place full of new economies of high end microbusiness that are all "service" !

 
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