How To Create Lasting Impressions In Customer Experience

Users determine whether your products are right for them in just 1/2 a second. If you're leading with discounts, you've already lost the game... First impressions don't just matter, they're everything in the digital world. Half a second is all it takes to form a lasting anchor in your customer's mind. Yesterday I spoke with an ecommerce brand selling premium products at premium prices. The first thing visitors see on their site? A 15% discount offer. This undermines everything they've built. The psychological principle at play here is called anchoring bias: whatever users see first becomes the reference point for every decision that follows. So when your homepage leads with "15% OFF!" you're telling customers price is your main differentiator. You've just anchored your brand as a discount option, even if you sell luxury goods 😳 This has devastating long-term effects on perceived value. Customers trained to expect discounts will wait for sales rather than buying at full price. They'll question the value of anything that isn't discounted. The data proves this approach is deadly for conversions. For one client, we shifted focus from discounts to their unique value proposition: "the best guarantees in the industry." This simple change in anchoring generated over $1.1 million in additional sales. The initial anchor point set customer expectations for the entire journey. When we positioned the brand as premium rather than cheap, customers responded accordingly. Take a hard look at your website's first impression: ↳ Are you anchoring on value or on discounts? ↳ Are you setting yourself up for sustainable growth or a race to the bottom?

We talk a lot about Customer Experience. But what is CX, really? Customer Experience refers to the overall perception and feelings that customers have about their interactions with a company throughout their entire journey with that brand. Thats a mouthful. Here’s how I think of it: The layers and layers of experiences that a customer has throughout their journey, positive or negative, that form their opinions and decisions. The CX includes everything from interactions with marketing content, sales experience, onboarding, automated emails, webinars, meetings, product, support issues…. You get it. But how do we take all of these layers of experiences and actually make an impact? How do we ensure we are creating positive moments when it matters most? Brad Davis spoke at Pulse about a psychological premise referred to as “the peak-end rule”. 🏔️ Here’s the gist: - People judge an experience largely based on how they felt at its peak (the most intense point) and at its end, rather than based on the total sum or average of every moment of the experience. So in theory, creating peak moments throughout the customer experience can impact a customer’s feelings towards the collective experience. Here’s some examples to try: 🍪 Personalized Gifting: Customer achieved something big? Send cookies with a personalized note from Grove Cookie Company (they do the notes for you!) to celebrate a milestone or accomplishment. 📝Thoughtful Message: Perhaps a customer mentions that their son is graduating college. If you don’t have gifting budget, send a simple nice note without any agenda or ask. “Hey Sara, Hope you had a great weekend celebrating your sons graduation!” Stick out by showing up in a more human way. 🎥 Send a Video: Have an important Exec Business Review coming up? Send a video ahead of the call with the agenda and some highlights so you can get their input and make the best use of your time. Video has a ton of applications, I love when CSMs use video to answer questions instead of assuming a call is best. 🤩 Give Them The Spotlight: Invite your customer to be on a Customer Advisory Board, an upcoming customer panel, or to share their experience and business impact during an internal all-hands. Including them drives advocacy by allowing them to feel like they are part of what you are building. Taking the extra effort in a proactive, intentional, or even a just-for-fun way can help create peak moments that leave a lasting impression. Brad helped create a peak moment for me last week. During his presentation, he unexpectedly invited me to join him on stage to share my insights and experiences. This surprise gesture not only made me feel incredibly valued, but also showed a real-time example of creating memorable, impactful experiences. What cool examples of peak moments have you experienced or created?????

How you differentiate yourself shapes your business. 1 way to differentiate = leave a lasting impression. But leaving the impression you want... Is not luck. There is a formula 👇 The 4 steps for leaving a lasting impression: ↳ Differentiate yourself quickly ↳ Discover a desired next step ↳ Exceed expectations early ↳ Sprinkle wow moments I first became aware of this formula on a vacation in the Caribbean… When we stepped out of the airport in St. Kitts we were in a brand-new place, ready for an amazing vacation, looking at a long line of cabs. We walked to the 1st cab in line. The driver welcome us to the island, introduced himself to us, and we hopped in for the ride. As we drove through the island, Dennis asked us casually about us, pointed out things of interest, shared the history of the island. He did it so well. And it was so interesting, I asked: Are all the taxi drivers here such amazing guides and historians? (50% joking, 100% amazed) His reply: I am a taxi driver. But I see myself as an ambassador. He shared with us his love for the island, his desire to help the island transition to a tourism economy, and his passion for meeting people from all around the world. And, that he saw his role as an Ambassador for the island of St. Kitts. 💡 Notice: how quickly he differentiated himself As we approached our hotel, Dennis asked us Did we have/want plans for dinner? Did we want casual or formal? What time would be perfect? He gave us his recommendations. Then he asked Which sounded best to us? Would we like him to make reservations? Would it be ok if he came back to pick us up? Wow! Yes please. We agreed. 💡 Notice: how he discovered our desired next step and made it easy for us Dennis was already waiting outside the hotel at our meetup time. On the ride, we learned more about the restaurant, the food, the island sites we were passing. As we turned a corner, he pulled into a look-out spot where the Caribbean & Atlantic meet, with only a ridge of hills separating, At sunset. He showed us a beach nearby on the Atlantic side with “great waves and a great view” that we should check out one day. We continued to the restaurant where Dennis Escorted us inside, Introduced us to the owner, Let us know he’d be waiting nearby. When we called Dennis, he was there in 5 minutes. 💡 Notice: the small but meaningful moments of exceeding expectation We saw Dennis every day that trip. Much of the interactions were normal but every once in a while… 💡 He sprinkled in a new wow moment. Is this story really about our vacation? No. Have a new client? Have a new team member? At a business networking event? Meeting a new romantic interest? ↳ leave a lasting impression And now you know the formula. It works every time. P.S. Had to hunt this pic down… ↳ Maureen and I in St. Kitts. Over a decade ago now. ↳ Walking on the beach he showed us that 1st night. ↳ Remember needing a real camera for vacation pics?