Experience economy

There has been a lot of focus on the rise of the experience economy lately. However, remember that this entroduces a whole new perspective on the trade off between innovation and efficiency compared to what we saw in the late 90's. In the experience economy it is satisfying customers that counts as this article from fastcompany also illustrates:

In the course of this year's Customers First research, no company produced a more polarizing debate than Apple and its Apple Stores. Some people lauded Apple's in-store service desks, called Genius Bars, for spinning an experience out of customers' problems with their iWhatevers. An equal number argued that Genius Bars mask the fact that Apple products don't always get the job done.

The divide cut to the heart of a larger question: Do you have to master the basics before you create meaningful customer experiences? Or can experiences, in effect, ameliorate any underlying troubles in your business? To us, the answer is clear--which is why Apple Stores isn't among our winners. "Are you delivering on the promise of your business?" asks Phil Terry, CEO of experience consultancy Creative Good. "Once you get that right, then you can innovate and do exciting stuff."

Certainly, it can be tempting to ignore the nuts and bolts in the rush to create experiences. "The idea of getting basics in place is about efficiencies," says Lewis Carbone, CEO of Experience Engineering. "That's not indicative of growth. We need a huge shift from 'make and sell' to creating powerful experiences." Hell, let's make it even more tempting: A great experience can bake poor service right in. Think of every velvet-rope nightclub or snooty boutique hotel where the staff lords its cool over you. Why not heed the call? Creating experiences is fun. The hard stuff of satisfying customers isn't.

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When Jeanne Bliss, a 25-year veteran of the customer-experience wars and the author of Chief Customer Officer, worked at Lands' End at the beginning of her career, she realized, "You've got to do reliability first: 24-hour delivery and answering the phone on the second ring 99.9% of the time. Then you've earned the right to do more." Get the package there on time, and you can add a holiday poem to the box--which is what Lands' End did. Then, because kids often have as much fun with the box as they do with their gift, the company included instructions for turning the cartons into cows, sheep, or horses.

Suddenly, getting a mail-order package is an experience, from the inside out. But Lands' End (and UPS) had to deliver first, and play games second. It knew it would take more than a genius to fix a Christmas present that showed up on December 28.