Most companies focus on improving interactions customers perform most often, which makes sense if they're below adequate. But it’s often hard for customers to notice these improvements because they already have high expectations and the improvements themselves tend to be incremental.

More effective strategies to influence perceptions are:

a) “Compete in the cracks” by finding parts of the experience where you don’t do anything and expectations are low, making improvements more noticeable.

b) Incorporate one or two trivial, yet unexpected details that stick out.

An example of each:

Domino’s filled the dead spot between ordering a pizza and it arriving, creating their now famous pizza tracker. The crowd went wild, even though knowing that a pizza’s on its way isn’t exactly front page news.

At their first class lounge in Frankfurt, Lufthansa give you a branded rubber duck to take with you to your private bathroom — the only feature of the entire flying experience that Ben Smith mentioned when I met him at the airport. He glossed over the the lie-flat bed, extensive whisky selection and being driven to the plane in a Porsche - all of which are par for the course.

Two strategies then: compete in the cracks, and build a couple of rubber ducks into your experience. Quack!

See this post on LinkedIn