I’ve had a string of great experiences with small businesses recently. A garage, furniture shop, that kind of thing. These people aren’t customer experience “experts” — it’s all just intuition and common sense to them. Like all of us, they know how to do things that make people happy. But what stops bigger businesses from doing the same? Three factors immediately come to mind.

Psychological proximity. In a small business, decision-makers deal directly with the customer, feedback is rich and immediate. In a large company those in positions of authority may never see a customer — they only exist on slides and spreadsheets.

Skin in the game. A small business owner's livelihood is often directly linked to customer satisfaction. In a large company your salary stays the same whatever happens.

Autonomy. A small business owner can react to the circumstances and has the freedom to do whatever their intuition tells them. In a large organization there is red-tape and standard processes that prohibit you from using your brain.

It strikes me that if we focussed more on these things — getting people closer to customers, offering greater upside and downside exposure, and giving them more freedom to act independently — well...our instincts might take care of the rest.

#customerexperience

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