Unfortunately, I witnessed two breakdowns that lowered the hospital’s Personal Experience Factor. (Recall that your Personal Experience Factor is the degree to which you delight your customer.) One issue was minor, while the other was a bit more significant.

The first breakdown should come as no surprise. It’s what I call the Tattered Magazine Syndrome, which plagues the health and beauty, automotive and medical industries.

Searching the hospital lobby, the most recent magazine I could find was from 2005. (No, I’m not joking.) Hospital administrators should appreciate that family members have to wait, nervously, for long periods of time. And few will be distracted by a magazine article that’s five years old. Although this particular breakdown is easy to fix, few service companies actually do. Outdated magazines litter office lobbies all across America.

On a side note, one would think this would be a helluva opportunity for a joint venture between health care providers and the publishing industry. I can think of no better way to expose your magazine to millions of new readers than to refresh the magazine racks in the lobbies of hospitals and doctors’ offices.

But let’s move on.

The second breakdown in the hospital’s Personal Experience Factor came after my father was out of surgery. Following the procedure, a hospital staff member walked me and my mother down to a private room where we waited to be debriefed by the surgeon. Sadly, the hospital staff stuck us in what appeared to be a large closet, which also housed its Internet router and other equipment. The room was also near a service elevator, which had broken doors that kept slamming shut every 30 seconds or so. Not a pleasant experience when you’re anxiously waiting to hear if your dad was okay.

Please understand, my goal isn’t to bash the hospital. (Hey, I’m just thrilled that my dad’s surgery was a success.) I only want you to appreciate that every customer touch point must be accounted for. A single breakdown in your Personal Experience Factor can forever tarnish the customer’s experience with your company.

So what about you, do you have an interesting customer experience to share – good or bad? Please leave a comment below.

P.S. My good friend and partner, Mike Dandridge, spent the past decade consulting business owners on how to elevate their Personal Experience Factor. You really should get to know him. Visit Mike’s site for a couple of free downloads that will help you score your Personal Experience Factor.

P.S.S. Join Mike Dandridge and I on July 15 – 16th as we teach our next “Marketing Beyond Advertising” class at the Wizard Academy in Austin, TX. You’ll get plenty of marketing tips and techniques to grow your business.

I recently wrote about a soon-to-be-open Anytime Fitness center that’s losing a golden opportunity to sell memberships during pre-launch – all without spending a penny on traditional marketing or advertising. I recommended that the gym leverage its prime location by posting a phone number or website address along its storefront. A small, simple action with the potential for BIG results.

The day after publishing my original post, I received this email from a close friend:

From: Matt Barnes
Subject: RE: A little help…
Date: November 18, 2009 8:29:54 AM EST
To: Tom Wanek

Btw, Kelley is friends with the owner of Anytime Fitness so I told her to send your advice to her.

Not really expecting anything to come from it, I was surprised this weekend when I drove by Anytime Fitness and noticed a new sign in the storefront window.

Sigh. Yes, the new sign announces that memberships are now available. But the signage is still absent of any contact information. (Take a close look at the photo above.)

Sorry Anytime Fitness, I shouldn’t have to work this hard to do business with you.

Customer Hoop-Jumping Experience #2:

Yesterday, my wife found the “cutest little laptop bag” on Target.com. The only hang-up: The bag needed to be shipped overnight to make it in time for her upcoming trip to Austin, Texas.

But nowhere on the site could she find the estimated shipping cost – even after placing the item in her cart.

Persistent, my wife called Target.com’s Customer Support Line only to be told that customers must first register AND provide credit card information before the company would reveal shipping charges.

Oh, so you think you can arm-twist my wife into purchasing, eh?

Fat chance. Hoop-jumping cost Target.com the sale.

Are you doing all you can to make it easy for your customers to do business with you?

As I’ve said before: Review the simple details that define your company, and eliminate the obstacles that stand between your customers and the cash register. You just might see big results and spectacular growth.

But Southwest Airlines bucks conventional wisdom by removing the rules and regulations that handcuff its employees.

Take a moment to watch the videos that accompany this blog post. You’ll witness a Southwest Airlines employee who has been given the freedom to create a fun, memorable and authentic experience for the company’s customers and its shareholders.

And no better words drive home the importance of authenticity than those crafted by Levine, Locke, Searls and Weinberger from their book, The Cluetrain Manifesto.

“Most corporations, on the other hand, only know how to talk in the soothing, humorless monotone of the mission statement, marketing brochure, and your-call-is-important-to-us busy signal. Same old tone, same old lies. No wonder networked markets have no respect for companies unable or unwilling to speak as they do.

But learning to speak in a human voice is not some trick, nor will corporations convince us they are human with lip service about “listening to customers.” They will only sound human when they empower real human beings to speak on their behalf.

While many such people already work for companies today, most companies ignore their ability to deliver genuine knowledge, opting instead to crank out sterile happy-talk that insults the intelligence of markets literally too smart to buy it.”

Empower your employees and encourage them to create a memorable experience. Your customers will love the breath of fresh air. And be sure to leave a comment below and let me know how you plan on being more authentic with your customers.

* Thanks to my friend and colleague Charlie Moger for sending me this video.

“Dear Preschool Parents

Here’s a little gift for you as you leave your precious one with us on the first day of school.  As you hold this cotton ball in your hand, the softness will help you to remember the gentle spirit of your child.  After you’ve gone home and dried your tears, make yourself a cup of hot tea.  Put up your feet and relax.  Remember, together we will work with your child to be the best that they can be.

Thank you for entrusting your child to us for the coming school year.  We will do our best every day to be your child’s guide in learning and exploring this bright, new world they’ve just stepped into.”

My daughter’s preschool gets it.

It understands that every parent feels anxious about their child’s first day of preschool – a day that signals a new phase of independence in your child’s life.  And my daughter’s teacher took the initiative to put parent’s minds at ease with a tiny little gesture of reassurance.  Mom didn’t shed a tear, and dad was thankful he wasn’t used as a human hanky.  Now that’s smart.  Very smart.

What better way to make parents feel at ease, build trust and drive word-of-mouth?

It’s an excellent example of Personal Experience Factor (PEF).  Your PEF is the degree to which you delight your customers with:

• Availability of products and services
• Aisle width
• Cleanliness of the lobby or showroom
• Helpfulness and expertise of your staff
• Convenient return policies, etc.

Have you come across examples of first-rate PEF?  Add a comment below, I’d love to hear about it.

“Sit back, relax and enjoy your flight!”

Those are the seven most meaningless words you’ll ever hear when flying.

It’s next to impossible to enjoy anything when your straight-jacketed into a flying aluminum tube for hours upon hours. And I don’t know about you, but I find nothing makes the time fly by (pun fully intended) when you’re this damn uncomfortable.

But my recent Qantas flight from L.A. to New Zealand was just a wee bit more enjoyable than most.

Here’s why: Qantas international flights have a free in-flight entertainment system on the back of every seat that allows you to access a surprisingly large selection of movies, television programs, songs, audio books and video games. A wonderful distraction for the bored marketing consultant and screaming kid alike – providing a high degree of Personal Experience Factor for every passenger on board.

Your Personal Experience Factor is the degree to which you delight your customers with:

• Availability of products and services
• Aisle width
• Cleanliness of the lobby or showroom
• Helpfulness and expertise of your staff
• Convenient return policies, etc.

But heads up: Most business owners believe they’re providing a much better Personal Experience Factor than reality dictates. (For example, Qantas could provide me with end-to-end delight with a free in-flight power supply and Wi-Fi.)

And too many business owner’s falsely assume that advertising will convert browsers into customers – an undertaking that takes more than words. At best, advertising can only bring people through your door. What happens next – your Personal Experience Factor – ultimately determines if you’ll make the sale and gain repeat customers.

Contact me if you need help elevating your Personal Experience Factor.

Three bikinis in hand. Checkout counter two feet away.

“We close at 5 o’clock. You’ll have to leave now.”, ambushed the sales woman.

Jaws agape. Words choking. Julie and her two daughters calmly place the merchandise back on the shelf and exit the seashore boutique.

And one-hundred and three dollars walk out with them.

Counter-signaling good service and a pleasant experience, the employees at the boutique failed to invest the time and energy necessary to stay open five minutes longer allowing my partner’s wife and daughters to pay for their swim wear.

The boutique’s shortsighted policy was to close exactly at five o’clock.

Showroom straight and tidy.
Lights turned off.
Doors bolted shut.

Tragically this counter-signal is all too prevalent in business today. A common sense hiccup unseating tremendous growth opportunities for business.

Might the actions of your employees be limiting your success?

Consider the following questions:

The actions of your staff are not silent. They send credible signals to your customers. And your business is far too valuable to allow these non-verbal signals to snatch sales from your hand.

Are you managing the signals your employees send?