I’ve long advocated the idea of deliberately designing how your customer experiences your business rather than leaving it to chance or allowing it to evolve on its own. It has long been a source of amazement to me that companies don’t pay much more attention to this idea as an opportunity to differentiate themselves.
As it turns out, the always-worth-reading Seth Godin has tacked the subject in a new blog post today. It’s not a comprehensive look at the concept, but it’s a great start.
Used properly, deal-of-the-day websites like Groupon or Living Social do a great job of driving customers to your business. But it’s important to remember that your investment is wasted if you don’t deliver a great customer experience when that new customer arrives. In fact, if your business fails to provide a positive customer experience you’ve actually made your long-term marketing and positioning more difficult because everyone who tried you once and didn’t become a fan will be increasingly more difficult to lure in again.
The answer is to deliberately design a great user experience for customers—especially new customers—who come to you via deal-of-the-day promotions. Look at it this way: You’ve already invested a hunk of change in getting these folks in the door. If you don’t take advantage of the opportunity, that investment will ultimately have been wasted. But if you have a deliberately thought-out strategy, then your investment can and will pay off long-term, even if your initial interaction doesn’t go beyond a low- or no-margin deal-of-the-day.
