The Three Phases of a Customer's Experience

When we talk about the Customer Experience, what exactly are we talking about? A lot of people just focus on the time that a customer actually spends in your place of business, but I think it starts way before that, and ends way after.

The Customer Experience should be thought of in three distinct phases. Each phase has its own rules, and the customer behaves completely differently depending on which phase of the experience they are in.

The three phases are: Future, Present, and Past.

Why do I start with Future? Because when we look at the Customer Experience, we have to do that from their perspective. As we go through the process, I think you will understand. Lets take a few minutes and examine each of these phases through the eyes of a Hotel Guest named Stan.

Phase One: The Future

Stan has to fly to a part of the country he’s never been to before, and he needs a place to stay, so he does what most of us do in the age of the Internet: he goes online. He may go to third party sites like TripAdvisor, Expedia, or Yelp, or he may go directly to the website of his favorite chain.

Stan looks at all of his choices, and using his intellect to begin to narrow things down. He selects a location that is relatively close to where he needs to be, and in a price range he can afford. He reads the reviews, and further narrows his selection based on the feedback of others.

Once he has his shortlist, Stan begins to use his imagination, comparing what he thinks his stay will be like at place “A” versus place “B” and so on. He looks at pictures of the property and tries to imagine walking through the lobby, or staying in the room, or eating at the restaurant. At some point Stan makes what he thinks is an informed decision about where he’s going to stay. He hopes he’s made a good choice, but he can’t possibly know for sure.

The entire story so far has taken place in Stan’s head. It has been a cognitive process that has taken place primarily in the logical left-brain. He has spent this entire time thinking about what his stay will be like when he finally gets to the hotel, sometime in the future. 

This process, has created benchmarks, or minimum requirements. If those expectations are not met, Stan's hopes for an enjoyable stay will begin to fall. 

Phase Two: The Present

Stan has now arrived at the hotel, and is greeted with sights, sounds, smells, and things to both touch and taste. There will be moments of cognitive processing, primarily when he checks in and out (how much is parking?!?), but for the most part, his stay will be filled with sensual and emotional input.

The thing to keep in mind is that Stan is actively trying to take measurements periodically throughout his entire stay. When he's asked, "Are you enjoying your stay?" he trys to determine whether his actual experience is meeting, or exceeding his previously imagined experience. This however, is not an easy task.

Remember, in Phase One, Stan created his future stay primarily in logical, plan-making, left-brain, and now his actual experience is taking place in the emotional, sensual, right-brain, and these two hemispheres don’t use the same language. He finds that some of the things he thought were going to be important, don’t matter after all, and things he didn’t even think of, have become vital to his enjoyment. 

When it comes to determining whether his actual experience is measuring up, the best he can do is to trust his gut. If he’s having a good time, if he’s happy, then he assumes that this stay is meeting, or exceeding his expectations.

Phase Three: The Past

Stan has now returned home, and as he reflects on his trip, he is using yet another part of his brain. His memory of his trip is filled with his experiences, both in his hotel and elsewhere, and his recollection is of the emotional journey he was on during his visit.

True, this is a cognitive process, but this is nothing like the Phase One planning phase. Here, Stan is trying to make rational sense of the sensual and emotional experience he had. As he attempts to answers the requisite question from friends and family about his trip, he tries his best to put his experience into words, but often words just seem to come up short. Depending on his audience it may turn into a one-line summation, “It was great!”

If Stan is going to write a review about the hotel he stayed in, this is the mental state where it would be created. If you think about it, this is where all reviews come from. If you’ve ever told someone about a movie you’ve seen, or about a meal you enjoyed at a restaurant, or a sculpture you loved, you’ve experienced the difficulty of putting your emotional experience into words.

So the question is, now that we understand that there are three phases to consider when thinking about our Customer’s Experience, how can we use this information to our benefit?

Tune in next week for more adventures from a Service Superhero where we’ll answer the question, “What can we do during each of the three Phases to positively impact our Customer’s Experience?”

Remember, I can transfer my abilities, or Superpowers, to anyone that truly wants them. Let me know if you'd like to set up a training seminar for your service team, so you can begin to deliver "Superhero Service" to each and every one of your Guests.

If you agree or disagree with anything I’ve said here, or would just like to share a Service related story or insight, I'd love to hear from you. Please post a comment below.