Reflecting on the "Reality Gap"

I was sitting here reflecting on a question that I was asked this week.

What was the most memorable customer experience I have had with any company in the past month?

And I couldn’t think of a single one.

I have interacted with hundreds of companies across all kinds of industries in the last 30 days as an end consumer. And not one created an experience that stood out in any way for me.

Everything was an efficient, bland transaction. I received what I needed and requested - sometimes with good service.

But nothing more.

The opportunity for companies to stand out and build incredible experiences for their customers continues to be tremendous. And so many believe that they are doing it already, which amazes me (and probably you, too) based on what I experience every day.

I’ve talked about that before: the “Reality Gap” between the perception of the experience a company believes they are providing and how it is actually being received by their customers. What a tremendous opportunity for so many companies to do so much more and close down that gap!