Take the time and your customers will too.

Today my girlfriend recounted to me an experience she had at the local coffee shop on campus called Java City. I was actually surprised that she brought it up, since business, contrary to being my major, isn’t something that she usually brings up on her own (probably for fear that I will never stop talking when she does- a justified fear). So you can imagine my surprise when she brought up the experience she had at Java City (especially as I had recently been criticizing their business practice of charging $0.15c for a cup of water).

Her experience is centered around hot chocolate (which she loves). She usually gets hot chocolate whenever we go to a coffee shop, so she’s had her taste of a variety of hot chocolates by various coffee shops (Starbucks, Port City Java, etc). I personally consider her a hot chocolate aficionado. With this considered, I was surprised when she started telling me about this great experience she had at Java City.

The experience revolves around the creation of her hot chocolate. Apparently it was something new she hadn’t experienced before. She described to me in detail the process one of the employees went through to make her hot chocolate. How he meticulously adjusted the machine a few different times to get what appeared as just the right flavor, and slowly added the whip cream in a near artistic fashion. From there, before finally transferring this delectable hot chocolate to my girlfriend, he asked her if she would like any chocolate on top. She agreed, and he spent another small portion of time carefully dripping the chocolate on the top of the whip cream, ending by giving this carefully and artistically crafted cup of hot chocolate to her, for her to enjoy. She explained this all to me, ending with “It was the best cup of hot chocolate I’ve had.”

That, my friends, is the power of experience. Now, I also thought about the WOM this would generate. At first I discounted that notion due to the fact that she could just be telling me this because I am her boyfriend. However, later that night on several occasions she also recounted her experience to some of our other friends. Experience matters.

People notice when companies take the time to care. That Java City employee took a little more time to put some effort and care into my girlfriend’s hot chocolate. She noticed and has told many people that Java City is her preferred place for hot chocolate and about that carefully made cup of hot chocolate. That small amount of time for my girlfriend has brought more customers, including myself, their way.