Transforming Ordinary Transactions into Extraordinary Experiences

Great customer experience makes everyone feel good. I love the experience of interacting with a brand and feeling valued as a customer, and this week I was inspired by a Podcast on creating extraordinary customer experiences. It also got me thinking about how I can improve in my role.

How do I get beyond the transactional project delivery to exceptional customer experiences? Even though my job is technical portfolio management my customers are the users of the technology from store partners to end customers at the store. I walk the tightrope between the business and technical worlds and I need to deliver the best experience.

This podcast illustrated how it is possible to look at turning ordinary transactions into extraordinary experiences. There are some great examples provided by Will Guidara who owned one of the best restaurants in New York, 11, Madison Park.

The heart of this talk is a shift in the focus on the digital economy from a manufacturing to a service industry. Now it is not just enough to deliver the best product technically you have to deliver the best experience. The name of the game is exceptional hospitality and extraordinary experiences. How can we do this, in whatever role we find ourselves to uplift the everyday? Here are some ideas.

Being present – Develop a genuine connection

It’s not about just doing the task but it’s about being present in the task. Especially as project managers, we can be focused on completing a certain number of tasks to achieve a goal. We need to pay attention to the body language, tone of voice, what’s being said whats not being said to understand how we can make this an exceptional experience. What is the thing that will make people remember the interaction? Is it the $2 hot dog served with love in a fancy dining restaurant or the uplifting message written on the cup to cheer someone up.

Serving memories – “One size fits one.”

Make people feel seen and special, make them feel welcome, a sense of belonging. They are not just another transaction but they are a valuable person who needs to be honoured and respected. People don’t remember what you did for them but people do remember how you make them feel. It’s not the cost of the gesture but the intention behind it, “One size fits one” is the goal here, it can be as simple as a smile or kind word, or gesture of kindness. We need more acts of outstanding kindness in this world, what can we do each day to make at least one person’s days special?

Take what you do seriously without taking yourself too seriously.

It’s all too easy to become so focused on completing the task, and delivering the project that we forget to enjoy the journey and bring everyone along on the experience. At the end of the day if we deliver the project on time and budget but we have a collection of unhappy colleagues or customers along the way that is not a good result. So we need to have fun on the journey and be creative. When we see the benefit of appreciating our colleagues and sharing the highs and the lows, we get to an exceptional result. At the end of it we are not just a group of professionals but we are a team of individuals who love, laugh and cry together and most of all don’t take ourselves too seriously.

In the example in the Podcast, the restaurant created a role called “Dream weaver” (from the classic song by Gary Hart). Whose role was to put together extraordinary experiences for customers that go above and beyond.

I also like the idea at the end of the Podcast of a “Reciprocity ring” about getting your team to write on board things that you need help with. Then everyone has the opportunity to put their name against ones that they can help support. This encourages people to be vulnerable with what they are struggling with. It also allows helping someone else with something that they can help with.

Conclusion

Unreasonable hospitality is not just for fancy restaurants or coffee. This is for any industry that can deliver the best in our jobs and share exceptional experiences from ordinary everyday transactions with our colleagues and customers.

• Caring a little bit more
• Being present
• One size fits one
• Don’t take yourself too seriously!

What can you do today to make someone else’s day special?

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