The Rise of the Experience Economy
We are now living in an experience economy, where every touchpoint a customer, partner, employee, or member of an organization has with a brand contributes to their overall perception of the brand and its value. In this landscape, the product or service itself is no longer the key differentiator. Instead, it is the experiences created that enable the value attainment that ultimately sets organizations apart from other groups in their field. A person’s experience—whether they are navigating a platform, interacting with customers or staff, or engaging with content—is now the key factor in determining retention and loyalty.
Wayne McCulloch, in his book The Seven Pillars of Customer Success, evidences the experience economy by referring to a scene from the timeless movie “Miracle on 34th Street,” when Kris Kringle sends a customer to a competitor’s store because the toy the shopper was looking for was not available in the store they were in. The shopper was surprised by this recommendation, but was also overwhelmingly thankful, to the point of telling the store manager that they would become a loyal customer (for life) of his store, even though she would be making her current purchase elsewhere. This long-term value created through an exceptional experience is what will ultimately drive business success.
In our ten years of collaboration, the Two Tree Solutions team has witnessed that the fundamental shift to an experience economy mindset can produce enormous benefit for all of an organization’s stakeholders, whether they be employees, partners, members, or customers. The experiences that employees have within an organization will determine if they feel empowered, valued, or, conversely, disengaged. The experiences a customer has during purchase, when they are in need of support, and when approached for feedback, will determine if they feel heard, seen, respected, and valued. Similarly, members of an association or students within an educational program will choose to stay engaged based on the quality of their experiences with the content, community, platform, and resources provided.
Enablement Experiences: Designing for Engagement and Success
This shift to an experience economy drives Two Tree Solutions to encourage and collaborate with businesses to intentionally design those experiences to realize value, support engagement and plant the seeds for long-term retention and growth. To that end, Two Tree focuses on what we call Strategic Enablement Experience Design (SEED) as our overall approach to integrating strategic planning, design, and ongoing optimization of experiences to ensure that every touchpoint a stakeholder encounters enables their success in some way. SEED combines tenets from Customer Success, Customer Experience, and Learning Experience Design pedagogies to increase the value provided to all of an organization’s stakeholders by thoughtfully designing and deploying experiences that enable them to meet their unique goals. This approach applies to:
Customer Capability: Every touchpoint, whether physical or digital, should prioritize the needs, expectations, and desires of the user. Whether it’s a website, a support ticket system, or a product feature, the experience should be tailored to delight and engage.
Member Engagement: For membership-based organizations, the focus should be on creating personalized experiences that increase engagement. Members should feel recognized and valued through tailored interactions, targeted content, and exclusive opportunities that make them feel part of an exclusive community.
Employee Empowerment: Employees are the internal ambassadors of the company’s values, products, and services. Their experiences, whether it’s the tools they use, the training they receive, or the support they are provided, must be aligned with organizational goals to ensure they feel motivated, supported, and productive.
Partner Collaboration: Partners are no less important to many businesses, so how they feel about how engaged and integrated the partner feels when filling a need/gap in a provider’s product or service, or how well the resellers have been enabled to sell, deliver and support a provider’s product or service, should be a priority for any organization looking to build mutually successful partnerships. If partners don’t feel valued through the experiences built for them, they likely won’t stay and will instead look for someone else to partner with/resell for.
We believe strongly that underlying all of these interactions is the importance of the Learner Experience. As formal and informal learning proliferate stakeholder relationships, delivering engaging and immersive learner experiences is paramount to an organization’s success. From content development to delivery mechanism, each learning opportunity should be strategically designed to increase comprehension, reward retention, and encourage the application of the knowledge or skill being offered.
Similarly, Customer Success and Customer Experience techniques can also be used to improve both internal and external customer interactions, either proactively or reactively. Much like a Customer Success Manager (CSM) works with a customer on goal setting for the solution they just purchased, or a CS Operations team member who gathers feedback and facilitates incremental improvement initiatives based upon that feedback, thoughtfully applied Customer Experience and Success strategies can be used to build impactful experiences that enable customers, members, employees, and partners to realize the long term value of their relationship with any organization.
The Takeaway: Experiences are the New Competitive Advantage
In this new era, the experience is the product. Moving forward, quality experiences—across every persona and every touchpoint—are what will drive transformation and growth, differentiation, and ultimately success in the marketplace. By focusing on intentional, Strategic Enablement Experience Design for every stakeholder, organizations can create deeper connections, foster loyalty, and differentiate themselves from the competition. Whether you are designing experiences for customers, employees, members, or partners, the key is to think of every interaction as an opportunity to engage, inspire, inform, and delight. Experiences are no longer an afterthought—they are the centerpiece of any effective business strategy. Planting the right SEEDs, can cultivate transformation and growth that is sustainable, meaningful, and impactful—leading to success in a competitive, experience-driven world.
The Two Tree Solutions team would love to explore how SEED could help your organization adapt to the experience economy. Read more about us or contact us today!