How easy is it to create an experience that delights others? If you think it is easy, think about it again.
Experience itself is only a word. If you look the word up in a dictionary, it means “something that happens to you that affects how you feel.” Now, you understand the meaning of experience, but does it mean you know how to create great experience? Even if you think you know how to create great experience based on your understanding of the word experience, do you really believe you can do it right? Some people suggest that experience is about the 5 senses, while others say it is about expectation. What exactly is experience all about?!
What if the customer is blind? What if the customer is deaf? What if the customer has no expectation simply because s/he just wants to shut down? Does that mean these customers cannot experience?
Everyone can read the word experience (if the person is not blind) but it does not mean that the person truly understands the word. Nobody can feel or control how others experience the experience, for experience happens in the mind, if not from the heart.
Can you read my mind? Even if you can read my mind, do you know how to manipulate me? Even if you know how to manipulate me, will I allow you to do so? Can you really feel how I feel?
There are at least 3,000 feeling words in the world, such as abused, blissful, cloudy, doubtful… do firms spend time learning how many feeling words there are? Do they understand what action will create the feeling?
If experience is so unpredictable, how do firms offer the right experience through whatever channel at whenever to whoever? There is really no right experience because what customer experiences can vary almost every minute. It is not about whether or not you put yourself in others' shoes. The problem is, the customer may not even know how s/he may want to react to what is designed for him/her.
It is almost impossible to make everyone happy, and it is naïve to believe that you have the ability to do so. One experience may be positive to one person, but it may be negative for others. For example, in a training room of 20 participants, it is almost impossible for the trainer to ensure that everyone will agree with what s/he shares. However, after vigorous debate, the trainer may be able to reach unanimous consent on the concept being taught, but you cannot argue experience. You simply cannot speak for your customers, because you are not them. Never! Even if you two are twins, each of you will still have different thoughts.
How can firm make the statement that it can create positive experience for the customers? Forget about external customers. It may not even be able to create positive experience for its employees, or internal clients.
It is almost impossible to identify what customers want to experience, because customers are human, and every human is made different.
So… do you still want to talk about experience?