The Positive Consumer Experience

In tomorrow’s economy, the consumer experience will be king. The companies that understand the value of creating a consistent, reliable and positive consumer experience will grow and succeed. In contrast, the companies that fail to provide a positive consumer experience will lose ground to their competitors.

As I see it, one of the primary reasons for this trend has a lot to do with what we as consumers expect from the businesses that compete for our attention. As consumers, we expect that the information we need to make an educated purchase will be readily available. We expect to be able to virtually name our own price and choose from several vendors. If a store doesn’t have it in stock, we can get it on eBay. We can go online and investigate all of our options without ever leaving our living rooms. We expect to get what we want when we want it, and for a reasonable price.

I was reminded of my own expectations as a consumer today while helping a friend of mine shop for a new car. I find car dealerships amazing. This is one corner of the marketplace where the consumer experience is of minimal importance at best. I don’t know anyone who hasn’t had some disgusting customer experience in a car dealership.

By and large, cars are still sold the way they were thirty years ago, despite the shifting landscape of our economy, and the growing emphasis on consumer power. Cars are sold not by creating a positive consumer experience, but by controlling information and pushing consumers through an antiquated sales process. The automotive industry is one of the only places left where consumers can’t simply ask how much the product costs and get the answers they need to make their own decision. Even the fitness industry, perpetual home of the hard sell, is coming to find better ways of appealing to the needs of consumers.

On the automotive front, there are exceptions. A few years ago, I bought a Saturn Ion from a Saturn dealership in Medford, MA. Saturn is a rare example of a company that has nearly perfected the art of creating a positive consumer experience. Saturn is gambling on the intelligence and sensitivity of consumers by engineering a sales process designed to cultivate trust, respect, transparency and peace of mind. I wonder how long it will take other car companies to take the same bet?

What can businesses do to create a positive consumer experience?

1. Provide all the information.
   
   They can provide whatever information and resources the consumer needs in order to make an educated decision.




2. Respect the customer’s intelligence.
   
   They can engineer sales processes that honor and respect the intelligence and sensitivity of their customers.




3. Be consistent.
   
   They can build trust and cultivate loyalty by making sure they consistently offer the same experience to consumers, regardless of where the costumer is, who the customer is, or who’s representing the company.

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