If you haven’t read my July 21 post, Lunch with Yoda, take a moment and read it. It sets the stage for this post.

My afternoon with John revealed what I submit are six laws for creating a perfect customer experience. While I’m certain there are others (and I’d love your opinions), these are a good start to an important discussion in an era in which the customer experience has never been more important to the marketing equation.

Now for Laws #4, #5, and #6…

I asked John about recruiting and managing staff to create the perfect experience.  His is world class, so what does it take in the way of people to deliver it?

I was encouraged by his response.

He didn’t suggest that somehow he had converted his team into a bunch of perfectionist robots. Instead, he said, “what I’ve got to remember is that this is their job – not their life. But it IS my life. And things will be done the way I want them done…. There’s no magic to this, but you have to have a true passion for making people feel special.”

From this remark, I’ll propose the fourth law.

LAW #4 OF CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE: THERE MUST BE A JOHN.

To create the perfect customer experience, you have to have a John (literally and figuratively).  Not a team of Johns. But at least one person – the person charged with creating and executing the perfect customer experience – MUST be sincerely passionate about the vision, the customer, and making people feel special. And that person must be empowered with the authority to relentlessly assess and refine all aspects of service delivery.

As we spoke, I was struck by the clarity and granularity of John’s vision for the experience he wanted to create. He had been brutal in narrowing his target audience to none other than the executive golfer. And he had not only the personal experience to know his customers, but he was clearly a student of this audience. He cited a number of facts and statistics as we spoke on trends in golf popularity, the capacity of the average golfer to improve his score, and other nuggets that made it obvious that he hasn’t stopped doing his homework.

From this body of hard-earned knowledge has emerged a vision with terrific clarity of what he aims to provide his members. My sense was that his vision was sufficiently clear to be governed by a set of defined service principles that would guide the moment-to-moment decision making of every member of the staff. The vision and these principles are instilled in every member of the staff from the first day of their arrival.

Let’s face it. In a service environment as demanding as this one, staffers have to be able to make on-the-spot decisions if the customer experience is to remain fluid (and perfect). Thus I propose the fifth law.

LAW #5 OF CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE: HAVE (AND COMMUNICATE) A CRYSTAL CLEAR VISION.

For a team to deliver a flawless customer experience, each member must be empowered to act spontaneously in the interest of the customer. For this to work consistently, each team member must understand the vision and its spirit in the form of the underlying service principles that support it.

Also at lunch with us was a guy who is not a member here, but a frequent guest and a legitimate prospect (were it not for the waiting list to join). Thinking back on the afternoon, part of my perception was shaped by stories told by this non-member of unexpected acts of service.

For example, as we approached the gate, he mentioned, “if you arrive here with a dirty car, it will be spotless when you leave.”

He told the story of a friend of his who is a member and was struggling with his golf game to the point that he had decided to give the game up. His discouragement was noted by a club staffer, and from that moment on, the whole staff rallied to his support.

When he would come to the driving range, the instructors would make a point to watch him and offer pointers and encouragement.

They offered him free coaching for as long as it would take to bring him back to his previous enjoyment of the game.

Whenever he would play, they tracked his scores and his progress.

They fitted him with a new set of clubs.

Guess what. He has stuck with the game – and with the club. And he has clearly told the story a time or two to outsiders. Now for the sixth law…

LAW #6 OF CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE: DON’T FORGET THE WOW!

The perfect customer experience involves some element of unexpected delight.  A special WOW! This is the match that ignites word of mouth. It doesn’t have to be expensive. It doesn’t have to be dramatic. But it has to be unexpected – yet perfectly appropriate.

Seth Godin addresses this notion in detail in his book Free Prize Inside (well worth reading). In fact in many instances, this Free Prize… the WOW is more remarkable from your customer’s perspective than the substance of what you are in business to provide.

So here are the six laws for creating the perfect customer experience:

1. Diversity is dangerous.
2. Relentlessly evaluate and refine.
3. Cheat.
4. There must be a John.
5. Have (and communicate) a crystal clear vision.
6. Don’t forget the WOW!

Put them into practice, and report back on the results!

John Taylor is the grand master among a new breed of marketers.

A short while ago, I wrote a post criticizing Sprint/Nextel for their abysmal failure to even be civil in their face-to-face interactions with customers.  John is the polar opposite. He is the engineer of a near flawless customer experience designed to delight just about the most demanding consumer that the world has to offer – rich, executive golfers.

He’s an artist, a choreographer, a director, a gracious host, and a savvy business man. Every business needs a John Taylor.

We had lunch last week in the kingdom that he has created in Scottsdale, Arizona.  Here’s his story – and three of the lessons that I walked away with…

About ten years ago, John and two partners set out to create the country’s finest club for golfers. NOT a high-end country club as John will quickly point out… Those aim to please everyone – and in doing so, truly satisfy no one.

Paraphrasing John, country clubs offer swimming, tennis, fitness, golf, dining, and other activities for people of all ages. Some manage to do a nice job of catering to the diverse interests of their clients.  Others are mediocre.

To be spectacular, you must focus – narrow your offering and narrow your audience.

John and his partners did just this. They opened a world class golf club. No swimming.  No tennis. No health club.  Just five-star golf wrapped in an unforgettable experiential package.

Price of admission: $175,000

Recurring annual cost for members: whatever it takes to fund a flawless experience.

That’s right.  Sure, you pay as you go for meals, golf instruction, etc. But at the end of the year any operating deficit that may have been incurred is simply divided evenly across the membership.

Where most of us would have stopped narrowing our target audience for fear of reducing our prospect universe too drastically, they went a step further.  This isn’t a place for just any wealthy person who loves golf.  It is specifically designed for the business executive golfer. 250 of them to be exact.  That’s it – along with 100 or so spots for members who live out of town (more than 150 miles away).

With any more than 250 local members, John couldn’t say with confidence that the experience would be flawless. Someone might have to wait for something – and John isn’t in the business of making members and their guests wait.

By defining their audience this narrowly, they have been able to achieve near perfection in the delivery of their service.

LAW #1 OF CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE: DIVERSITY IS DANGEROUS.

There is an inverse relationship between audience diversity and the perfection of the customer experience.

To deliver a consistently flawless experience, your audience must be nearly homogenous – at least in the context of their expectations of you. Some members may like opera. Others prefer a night at the movies.  This diversity doesn’t matter.  When they enter the palace gates, they all share a common vision and expectation of a perfect, executive golfing experience.

As we dined, I asked John, “once you’ve created an experience like this one, do you find yourself constantly struggling simply to maintain the perfection – trying not to change a thing – or do you find that you are constantly recalibrating, tweaking, adjusting…?”

As you might expect, he lives a life of continual assessment, refinement and recalibration. He replied, “since we’ve been sitting here (having lunch), I’ve noticed six things that need to be changed. You may not have noticed, but there’s a fly in here.”

From somewhere in the cavernous hall, indeed there lit a single, very unfortunate fly on our table.

“That fly has been bothering the hell out of me.”

LAW #2 OF CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE: RELENTLESSLY EVALUATE AND REFINE.

It can never be truly perfect for everyone all of the time.  The master simply reduces the delta (between reality and true perfection) to the nearly imperceptible – and holds it there through relentless evaluation and refinement.

As I watched a few cherished members enjoy their club that afternoon around lunchtime, I couldn’t help but notice the fluidity of their experience.  Members moved about as though they were at home. The staff had clearly committed not only their names, but their personal preferences to memory, and for a fleeting moment one might forget that food and drink – even here – come at a price.

One might forget because no one signs for anything.  As members and their guests consume, the member’s bill is being quietly and invisibly tabulated – never to be seen until (I assume) the end of the month.

After lunch, we took a stroll across the cushy green carpet that members have come to know as a fairway. We arrived at the state-of-the-art golf training facility. Oddly, I was greeted at this outpost with warm familiarity by attendants I had yet to meet.

Here I noticed one of what I’m sure are many of John’s tools of the trade.  A Secret Service-like communication device can be found in the ear of most every staffer. As I spoke with one of these agents, I learned that he and his comrades were constantly kept abreast of everyone who was “on property” at any given moment along with any special needs that they may have during this visit.

LAW #3 OF CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE: CHEAT.

Mere mortals can’t deliver a perfect experience without cheating – so cheat.

Even with only 250 members, the multitude of names, faces, and preferences is too great to master unaided by technology. There’s no shame in this – unless you don’t own the technology.

I could go on… will in future posts.  Coming into an experience with VERY high expectations, rarely do you leave having had your expectations exceeded.  Leaving this paradise, mine were exceeded.

So how is John from a business perspective? I’ll offer a few stats:

Memberships – SOLD OUT.  There are a few open spots if you live more than 150 miles away. Otherwise, welcome to the waiting list.

Not bad.

Total dollars spent on advertising since inception: $0

The experience IS the marketing plan. And it worked. Way to go John!

I’d hate to be responsible for marketing at Sprint (together with Nextel). There are people at Sprint dedicating their lives to trying to make people like this company – to say nothing of the millions they spend in that effort.

And for what??? To have it all ruined the moment someone walks into one of their retail locations and tries to transact business with any one of the battalion of thoughtless morons that they employ (or allow to conduct themselves draped in the Sprint brand).

You can tell I’m a little agitated.

I’ve been a Nextel customer for several years now.  I’ve never missed a payment, and I have the most expensive plan that they offer – unlimited voice + unlimited data + the warranty on my Nextel BlackBerry.

The scroll wheel on my BlackBerry broke last week.  Pleased with myself for investing in the warranty, I drop into a Sprint store to swap my broken device for a new one.

Taking great pleasure in the fact that I can be dismissed without any help at all, the store clerk tells me that despite their well stocked inventory of BlackBerries just like mine, I would have to travel to a store across town to resolve this issue.

So across town I go – reminded of how much I love my BlackBerry – and hate Sprint. I arrive at Sprint store #2.  After waiting ten minutes to be acknowledged by clerk #2, I’m told that despite their well stocked inventory of BlackBerries just like mine – and the instructions I received at Sprint store #1, I would have to travel to yet another store some ten miles away to resolve this issue.

Irate, and wondering what it would cost to break my Sprint contract that seems to constantly renew without my knowledge, I arrive at Sprint store #3 – the biggest of the bunch. Here, I’m told that despite their well stocked inventory of BlackBerries just like mine – and my less than pleasant journey to their location, I would have to wait for three days to get a replacement for my broken BlackBerry.

I leave… amazed at how some businesses seem to make money in spite of themselves.

Returning three days later, I find a replacement BlackBerry waiting for me.  As I attempt to claim it and depart, I’m told that I have to leave my broken BlackBerry at the store.

I keep a lot of information on my BlackBerry. And while I back up from time to time, I’m nervous about getting the information off of my broken BlackBerry and onto the new one. As you might imagine, if something goes wrong in the process, I’d like to have the old one handy to put my mind at ease.

Politely, I explain my anxiety.  No one at the store can assist in the data transfer process, and that’s just too bad for me.  “I don’t want to keep the old phone,” I say. “I just want to keep it for a few hours until I have all of the data transferred.” I went on to offer to leave my driver’s license at the store for the short time it would take.

The Sprint response – absolutely NOT.

I left WITHOUT my replacement BlackBerry and will some day soon return to the store with my laptop and perform the operation at their location.

Attacking a wireless carrier’s customer service is almost a cliché. They’re all terrible – which is probably how they all stay in business. But this sort of thing happens in all kinds of businesses every day.  The marketers present a beautiful version of the company only to have those who interface with customers and prospects destroy their work. The experience simply doesn’t live up to the marketer’s presentation.

Now back to the poor marketers trying to make people like Sprint… How many great ads and direct mail packages does it take to neutralize the experience I just had? To what lengths must a marketer go just to make me stop HATING Sprint?

Answer: They can’t.

The experience trumps everything.

The world’s greatest marketing can be negated forever by one bad experience in dealing with the company.

Happily, the reverse is also true.  A company that doesn’t “market” itself at all can attract new business in droves by delivering a remarkably good experience.

Arguably, the experience of doing business with you is the most powerful marketing medium you have at your disposal.

If the marketers in your organization don’t have direct influence over the customer/ prospect experience (and most don’t), then I would ask you…

Who is really in charge of your marketing?