Why the "Product" Must Always Come First in Customer Experience

Everything was going fine with my new computer—until it wasn’t. The installer was very chatty, and on reflection, we spent a good hour talking about cars and his business rather than focusing on the new device.

The problem arose after he had gone. The sound from the computer was barely audible. This had not been apparent during the demonstration of the new machine because I use headphones—I hadn't plugged them in to check the quality. When I contacted him half an hour after he had left, he had already moved on and was with another client. Since it was Friday afternoon, there was no way I would be able to solve the sound problem until Monday morning.

It reminded me how quickly things can go wrong. What I had been prepared to give a 10 out of 10 for customer experience had now fallen significantly.

Customer experience is a full-time job. Chatting about social things may, at the time, seem like a nice thing to do, but it shouldn’t be at the expense of “the product.” Listening to the cashier talk about a recipe they made with one of the items you purchased at the grocery store checkout may seem friendly and experience-enhancing, but not if it slows down the queue. The product is the fast checkout; the product is the computer debrief—it is not the engaging chat.

I am reminded how many marketers confuse the famous 4Ps of marketing. They are, of course, Product, Place, Price, and Promotion. Because there are four Ps, it is easy for marketers to assume they are of equal importance. Sure, they are all important, but the most important of all is “product.” It is what people have decided to buy. If the product is wrong, no amount of expenditure on the other Ps will compensate. It is the same with customer experience. Make sure that the experience is focused on getting the product right—everything else is a bonus.