We’ve been ramping up our own brand defining experiences here at Parker LePla. A simple, yet important, experience is how you present yourself and your company within the first few moments of meeting a client. And so our own little brand defining experience is getting noticed—the story behind our new business cards. Check out a little write-up on how we continue to tell our story…

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Last night, while attempting to find parking to see a play at Seattle Center, I had totally given up, and was ready to (shudder) pay for parking to not miss the curtain, when a free space appeared two blocks away from the theater. Two weeks ago, I found free all-day parking DOWNTOWN! (OK, it was a Saturday and I did have to move my car once.)

What accounts for all this parking luck? I say it’s the same thing that helps businesses succeed.

Does that sound weird? Let’s break it down and see why my ability to find parking spaces is similar to what every successful entrepreneur experiences: We make a lot of our luck. Here are the five ways that finding parking and running a business are related and alike:

1. They reward attention. Near one of my haunts is a confusing no parking sign with about four different restrictions on it: No parking 4-6 p.m., except Sundays and Holidays, two hour limit except with Permit #19, Metro only 8-4 Tue. through Thurs., you get the idea. I swear, I’m the only person who reads these signs. These spaces are available more often than not, just because it’s too complicated to figure out if you’re safe from ticketing.

Similarly, paying attention to the right things in business may mean you find a better internet connection deal, or find an RFP (request for proposals) for a good opportunity that others may miss. It may mean you see a new partnership opportunity, or a new market need. Paying attention pays off.

2. They reward persistence. Let’s take the Seattle Center theater case again: I first went to one lot (too expensive), then to another (required exact change), then to another (full up) and then found street parking (permit required). My husband was starting to sweat bullets that we’d miss the curtain. I was secretly getting anxious, too, and ready to go back to the too expensive lot, but my natural stubbornness prevailed and I drove around one more time. Voila! (What I saved in parking fees, however, will now have to be applied to marriage counseling!)

Never giving up is one way that businesses thrive. Sometimes, all you have is your persistence, and you never know if the next time you try, it might work. How many filament materials did Thomas Edison try before he found the one that worked? More than 6,000.

3. They reward cheapness. Frankly, I’m cheap in most places in my life, preferring to buy my clothes at warehouse sales and eat at funky holes in the wall instead of more upscale venues. This is part of the way I was raised. So I make a game out of economizing, and actually enjoy living within my means. Looking for free parking is part and parcel of that ethos.

When we were first looking for office space, free parking was one of our top priorities. Keeping overhead low is so baked into my business culture that every expense is questioned, and every perk is suspect. This policy helps us reap more profit in good times, and avoid layoffs and debt in bad. It doesn’t mean we don’t invest when necessary, but it does mean we’re careful about expenditures.

4. Both reward a certain kind of risk taking. Here’s where I come clean. Sometimes I don’t pay for street parking when I’m running in to pick something up, or I pick spaces that are a teensy little bit illegal. (Oh, come on, I’m only one foot into the red curb!) Of course, I could always get busted by the parking enforcement people, and when I do, I try to accept it with grace (and fail utterly). But when I get away with it — oh, the joy!

Every business has risk, and sometimes the risk pays off. Playing it too safe will not lead to growth and market dominance.

5. Both reward goal setting. If you don’t set out to get free parking, it’s much easier to fill the meter or buy a space in a garage than to spend the time I do looking for that one free space. Similarly, in business, you’re much more likely to achieve your goals when you have them, and then put the processes and resources in place to make them happen.

So while there is no free lunch, there is often free parking. May the parking fairies rain empty slots upon you. And may your business thrive as well. So while there is no free lunch, there is often free parking. May the parking fairies rain empty slots upon you. And may your business thrive as well.

- Lynn Parker

This article was published in Puget Sound Business Journal where Lynn is a guest columnist.

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An Example of Customer Experience Mapping: This experience map is a visual representation of our target persona Zach’s journey as he tries to figure out how best to cut costs quickly.

Customer Experience Mapping: The Parker LePla Approach

Parker LePla’s method for customer experience mapping is more targeted to business goals and looks at customer experience through the lens of the customer and their relationship with the brand—seeking to understand how the customer influences the brand and the brand influences the customer along the way. This approach highlights the many elements of a customer experience that are more important from a customer’s perspective than a company may think. It also uncovers opportunities for the company to create moments that turn a simple event such as a post-purchase confirmation, or how a package is wrapped and shipped, into brand-defining experiences.

Customer Experience Mapping in Practice

Here’s how customer experience mapping might work in practice. Let’s say we are working with a company that provides high end shipping and project management services for trade shows and other events. And, let’s say their business goal is to acquire 10 new customers over the next two months. Rather than trying to break down and analyze their entire customer experience from end to end, we help them understand how their existing customers learned about them and what process they went through to make a decision to work with them—how did they frame their need or business problem, what did they need to know, who was involved in the each stage of the process, what barriers existed and how were they overcome?

We start by doing some customer experience research to understand customers’ baseline impressions of the brand, how it impacts their decisions and what they associate with the brand. Then, we talk to the company’s internal teams (business development, marketing, communications, PR and sales) to understand how they deliver their services and what channels they deliver them through. Then, we get to mapping—facilitating a team discussion that walks them through the experience from their customer’s point of view—mapping each and every aspect of the experience on a white board so that the team can see, in real time, what the process looks like from their customer’s point of view.

Let’s also say that during the process they realize that the way most of their customers are finding them is not through Google, but through the event management grapevine. This realization makes them think about whether they should reduce their Google AdWords budget and put more money towards a customer referral program and directory listings on key event management sites. It also makes them think they should boost their brand promotions in these event spaces. During the process, they discover the opportunity to turn their sales force into “event logistics consultants” that provide an hour of free consulting to help potential clients see the benefits of their approach—all because they were able to see that their clients needed more education on why their customers should choose their approach over others. The end result: a clear understanding of their customer’s experience and a strategic plan to help them meet their business goal of acquiring 10 new customers over the next two months.

Customer experience mapping is a very enlightening process that helps companies take a new look at what they do through the eyes of their customers. It helps managers and executives emerge from ruts and inspires creativity and innovation in everyone in the organization. It’s powerful work that transforms brands and turns customers into champions.

Learn more about how customer experience mapping can help you increase brand loyalty and sales and learn about a complimentary customer experience mapping offer from Parker LePla here.

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So, I recently went on vacation. I was staying at what appeared to be a fairly nice hotel/timeshare. The website was professional, the pictures were beautiful, the listed attractions and activities were titillating and the overall reviews were quite good. I couldn’t wait to get there.

Now, don’t get me wrong, the experience wasn’t terrible, but it wasn’t great. And it definitely wasn’t an experience that wowed.

Upon my arrival, the lobby was overflowing; I was rushed through, told to come back in a ½ hour because my room wasn’t ready, sent on my way without any resort map or information and, upon my return, a set of keys that didn’t work. My shower didn’t drain properly, two requests for a repair resulted in nothing. The garbage disposal wasn’t working and my screen door, which was barely on the track, went whipping across my patio and woke me up at 3 am during a wind storm. As I lounged by the pool in the sunshine, the bartender on duty stayed in his shaded bar cage, never once coming by to offer me a nice cool beverage—and I would have gladly ordered one. And, when the concierge found out I wasn’t inclined to purchase a timeshare, well, helping me book activities wasn’t really worth his time. In short, my expectations, needs and wants weren’t fully met.

Now, I know it’s challenging to keep everyone happy—myself included. But, it’s also why I believe customer feedback (and by customer feedback I mean truly understanding what your experience looks like through your customers’ eyes), is key if you want your business to achieve continued success.

But, it seems like many of today’s feedback mechanisms—like the online survey I completed after my vacation—aren’t designed with the customer in mind and seem like little more than a default gesture. As I chronicled my visit, I found that there wasn’t enough room to type; the questions were generic and didn’t really get to the heart of my experience; and, aside from the “thanks for completing our survey” email, I am left with no idea as to what happens to all this rich feedback I took the time to share? If I go back, will my experience actually be any better?

Do they analyze this data? Will they apply this information in ways that help improve their brand experience? Will they use it to redesign the customer flow during check-in so it’s less chaotic?  Will they consider changing how concierges are incented so booking activities becomes a more rewarding and enjoyable experience for both the staff and the customers? Will they create training programs that help staff identify sales opportunities, like selling a tray full of margaritas to a pool full of thirsty people? Will they develop staff reward programs for keeping the grounds well-maintained and addressing customer issues efficiently?  Well, they should, but who knows!

My advice:  whether you’re a big corporation or a small business, as you develop your voice of the customer program, make sure it too is a rich and rewarding experience for customers AND that your truly listening and integrating your customers’ great feedback and ideas into the experience. Because it’s the experiences that we remember and that keep us coming back for more.

- Rachel Olmsted

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Airplanes and flight have always intrigued me. The idea that you can put a heavy hunk of metal in the sky and make it soar is truly a phenomenon. And, as a fairly green gal, I’m also interested in the evolution of this science and how we can improve upon its efficiency. So imagine my delight when I found The GE Show: A celebration of flight.

This site, developed to help demonstrate (not just tell people) what GE is doing, is a truly brand-defining digital experience. Fun, educational, interactive and engaging: yes. Interesting and relevant information that helps you understand technology and how it influences and changes our lives: check! And, I come away from it with a somewhat surprising appreciation for GE that I never had before.

Fun fact: the number of airplanes in the sky every hour in the U.S.—5K. Check out their intersecting flight patterns. There’s also the celebration of innovative ideas: electric planes and optimized descents that reduce fuel consumption and CO² emissions. Personally, I recommend the High Flying Tens—top ten plane landings, weirdest planes, window photos and trying your hand at designing your own plane.

You know it’s a good experience when you’ve lost track of time during your exploration, can’t wait to come back for more, leave armed with new found knowledge that you can’t wait to share with your friends and feel inspired by something that happens every day. If you aren’t enamored by the magic of flight now, once you soar through this innovative experience, I think you will be.

- Rachel Olmsted

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How do you close the deal in this new digital landscape? There are three secrets to developing digital experiences that win sales for companies in any retail environment—online or face-to-face.

If your goal is to increase profits, turn customers into die-hard fans, or become the next big brand, read our free white paper “What Do Customers Want? The 3 secrets to powerful web, social and mobile experiences that make the sale” (PDF).

You’ll learn our latest best practices for brand experiences that do the selling for you, and see concrete examples in action.

And let us know what you think either by commenting below or by visiting our Facebook page.

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Consumers these days are clearly favoring experiences over messages. Think Apple’s interface. Think warm chocolate chips cookies from Double Tree.  Think of the scent of a Singapore Airlines airplane.  These are what we’d call brand defining experiences. They’re memorable, unique and emotionally resonant. And they demonstrate the promise of the brand without having to actually say it. This is where brand and marketing are heading and for good reason. Saturated marketing channels are making us deaf. Instead, give us a test drive of what we can expect from you and then we’ll decide if it’s something we want or not.

When I saw Ann Taylor, Gap, and Urban Outfitters announce their quest to beautify fitting rooms it also occurred to me that focusing exclusively on these types of experiences can be dangerous.

There is real risk in creating experiences that are disconnected from the rest of your customer experiences. If a customer has a fantastic experience in your dressing room but then waits too long in line at the check-out counter, your effort could be lost.  Inconsistency breeds confusion, and it’s hard to build a brand amidst confusion.

To help safeguard your investment in your brand defining experience, follow these three rules:

1)      Make sure these experiences are well rooted in your brand, not just a gimmick designed to garner attention. This means the experience will feel authentic, like a natural extension of you. It will also help ensure that over time the experiences themselves build on each other and all contribute back to the building of the brand.

2)      Look at the entire customer experience, not just one piece, and from the customer’s perspective. How does this fit in? Is it consistent with what the customer expects or needs? Is it helpful or does it get in the way? How does it relate to the rest of the experience we provide.

3)      Examine all the potential roadblocks, especially those related to staff, in your ability to deliver this experience. If this experience requires you to have super smart staff who are prepared to answer any question, but you’ve consistently underinvested in training, then this might not be the experience for you. Experiences are harder to deliver than messages because they take serious training, investment, and the right people to pull them off. Be honest with yourself about what you’re team is capable of doing.

Taking these three steps will help ensure your brand defining experience is more than window—or dressing room—dressing.

- Bianca Abate

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Frito-Lay made a big splash the other week when they suspended a replica of their “Flavor Kitchen” over Times Square. The “Flavor Kitchen” is Frito-Lay’s newest tactic in its “naturally delicious” campaign.  They used the kitchen as a place to demonstrate their promise around, “all natural ingredients,” showing the Executive Chef chopping fresh veggies for the next batch of chips.  Why did they choose to do this versus the more traditional method of telling customers about their commitment? First, it’s more transparent and therefore more believable. There’s a big difference between a company like Frito-Lay saying they’re all natural versus showing it.

But what’s also genius about this is that it’s become a brand-defining experience. They’re not just the company who pays lip service to all natural, they’re doing it, and they doing it big. The old saying “actions speak louder than words” couldn’t be more true in today’s over-saturated consumer market. If you saw this on the news or if you were a lucky passer-by, chances are you won’t forget it. If you were going to create a brand defining experience for your business, what would it be?

- Evelyn Jones

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Whether you’re a B2B or B2C company, seeing your experience from your customers’ perspective is a powerful way to align your team and build your brand.  Often this requires lifting the veil and putting yourself in their shoes vis-à-vis primary research with customers.

How would your organization benefit from knowing the following?

1. Understanding the  current brand experience from an outsiders’ point of view
2. Your customers’ desired experience
3. The gaps and opportunities that may exist between the two

And how would having this information enable you to enact positive change and build brand value?

If you are looking for a place to start, our senior-level consultants are offering an affordable promotion of our brand strategy services. Check out the information on our Facebook page or call Briana Marrah at 206-285-5280.

Check out the details on our  Facebook page.

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