Herb Kehlleher, former CEO of Southwest Airlines said, "I keep telling them (visitors to Southwest Airlines) that the intangibles are far more important than the tangibles in the competitive world because, obviously, you can replicate the tangibles. You can get the same airplane. You can get the same ticket counters. You can get the same computers. But the hardest thing for a competitor to match is your culture and the spirit of your people and their focus on customer service because that isn't something you can do overnight and it isn't something that you can do without a great deal of attention every day in a thousand different ways."
Southwest is one of a few profitable airline companies out there today.
What was Kehlleher really saying? Certainly the 'tangibles' matter with any business. For instance, a tangible, quality product is a requirement to be an impact player in any market. That is irrefutable. But what Kelleher was saying is this: "It is the 'little things' that matter most to customers. Business doesn't thrive on what it has or is to a customer, rather it thrives on what it does for its customers and how it makes them 'feel'.
Kelleher was also saying that it is the subtleties of everyday life; the smile, the firm handshake, the attention given and the courtesy shown to a customer that can mean the difference between success and failure in business. The intangibles are those things that the customer experiences and feels and, in the great majority of cases, ultimately relies on when deciding where to buy...and from whom they will buy it from. The intangibles differentiate us from the crowded competitive landscape and get us remembered and referred for future sales.
But instead, businesses all too often focus on the tangible elements of such things as the number of marketing calls made, or the number of sales appointments set and sales made in a given week or month. All these things are important to track and know. But it is the tracking and understanding of what 'really' has the power and allure to get an individual to want to buy that is best to master and know.
Call it the E-Factor for Experience or Emotional Factor. Whatever name you give it, the truth remains the same. How a customer feels, particularly when they buy and make choices, makes the difference between closing a sale and not closing a sale. The E-Factor is the difference!
So, what are your customers experiencing and feeling when they walk into your office? How about when they call in to your office or business? What about at claim time, how do you make them feel; comforted, nervous, uncertain? Is their experience a positive one?
Your answer can be the difference between whether you have a successful business or not.
Copyright © 2010 - Tony Cefalu
