Customer experience: What I want to say vs. what you want to hear.

There are times when I have what I think is a brilliant idea. It’s something that’s been percolating in my brain for a few weeks. When the thought is finally fully formed, I want to tell the world. So I craft a masterful post (well, at least in my eyes.) Then you know what happens? Crickets.

Why is the world not rushing to my site?

It doesn’t matter how brilliant I may think my idea is. If it isn’t expressed in the context of what is important to my audience, then it’s going to get ignored. In terms of creating a great customer experience, it’s not about what I think. It’s about what they think.

It doesn’t mean you have to pander to the lowest common denominator

You can introduce a new idea. But here’s the tricky part. You have to introduce it in a way that jibes with how your audience views the world. This takes great empathy. Because you may believe they are thinking about a situation in the wrong way. Telling people that they are wrong probably isn’t the best way to build trust (or a customer experience). And you need their trust if you want them to believe in your idea. So you need to find a way to create a bridge between their old way of thinking and your new idea.

Imagine if Starbucks had taken the stance that you're dumb (or unsophisticated) if you don’t think you should move from paying $.50 for a cup of coffee to paying $3.00.

They changed the way we thought about that purchase by focusing on what we believed was valuable in today’s world. It wasn’t about buying coffee. It became about treating ourselves to a little escape. They built the entire experience around that - from higher quality coffee to engaging baristas to comfortable places where people wanted to hang out.

Keep an eye on empathy and biases

I’ve written before about the importance of empathy. I keep coming back to it as an incredibly important quality when it comes to winning hearts and minds.

Additionally, there is a great post on Fast Company on the 5 unconscious biases that can lead to less than optimal decisions. It’s a great reminder that I can be my own worst enemy.

It’s important to keep tabs on both these factors. After all, it could be the difference between saying something in a way that I want to say it and saying something that someone will actually want to hear.