Selling experience [Archives:2002/31/Business & Economy]
The Road Ahead
BY RAIDAN A. AL-SAQQAF
[email protected]
In the last few years, there were noticeable improvements in products and services offered in markets, resulting in changes of customers expectations from these products and services. You do not expect to buy the same car which was there 10 years ago or have the same laundry services of then, cars have improved and services too.
They say: sell the sizzle, not the stake. What does this mean? It means that human beings are fairly rational and emotions affect their decisions, and you can make an impact on them through additions to the main product / service they ask for. For example, in hotel industry, you book a room for lodging, that is the main service, but if the room was air conditioned, supplied with color TV and flowers or fruits, this would make the room a good experience, but as soon as competitors provide the same, you have to add more to the room in order to enrich that experience.
Today, as products and services become commoditized, and there appears to be no big difference between them, the one thing that will most impress customers and affect their decision, will be the experience they get along with the main product or service. For example, if you wish to travel by air, you may choose one airlines company from many, disregarding the airfare; you would choose the airways that would give you the best flight experience. This is where the experience offered sells. And sometimes even if the airfare difference was huge, you might still choose the airlines that offers better flying experience.
Entertainment is a sector where customers look for enjoyment and are willing to pay for it, but before that, the experience in itself should be worth the price. If youve ever been to Farah-Land, Sanaa, you will have to pay an entrance fee of YR 100, but you might not think it was too much for entering the entertainment complex, because in a city like Sanaa which lacks entertainment, that fee isnt too much.
On the other hand, Sanaa trade center is a prominent shopping complex where you dont have to pay an entrance fee but you will be willing to pay a higher price for a product / service there, than you are willing to pay for the same outside, because you enjoy the experience of shopping in the complex.
In this new millennium, businesses that fail to provide a good unique experience to customers will slowly lose them to others who provide better experience. Its time to move to the next level and create and offer unique experiences along with the main product / service.
End note: As products & services are being commoditized, providing a good experience to the customer is what matters.
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