People visit different places drawn by various reasons. Depending on what basis that reason is founded, it all has its genesis on what strikes an individual’s attention. In a case where two similar sites offering almost the same product or service may end up with one being a favorite destination place for people than the other. Pine & Gilmore (1999) attributes this to how one site may package itself and stand out of the crowd regarding its corporate identification. This may be tagged to its thematic presentation; the theme by which it is easily identifiable from the rest of the competition (Pine & Gilmore, 1999). For businesses to be able to formulate easily a theme that will draw clients, it is important for them to have a clue of on the perspective of the customer (Gorry & Westbrook, 2011).
The thematic presentation may be coined around the business/ site name, its corporate tagline or its physical architecture or a combination of both. A Themed presentation given to a business model may be based on some form of fictitious analogy (Pine & Gilmore, 1999). For example, when a tourist destination such as a hotel is themed around a castle, the clients expectations would be that they will be able to see imaginary castle artifacts and architecture. The site should be able to exude some form of royalty exuberance in the mind of the consumer. It is the basis of influencing the psychological purchasing power of a targeted market. Pine & Gilmore (1999) expresses this as a way in which fiction is brought into real life. A business whose dealings does not evoke thematic feelings in the mind of its target clients may find itself being disadvantaged not because their offerings are not the best but just because they do not arouse consumers’ attraction (Pine & Gilmore, 1999).
Understanding the customers perspective may not be easy if it is assumed or based on quantitative feedback; the number of clients who may have visited the business premises within a stipulated time. The best way to draw to get the true picture of the customer feelings is through their qualitative feedback (Gorry & Westbrook, 2011). In literal terms all these leads to the questions, ‘what do they prefer?’, ‘why do they prefer it?’ and ‘why do they prefer it that way?’ It all boils down to understanding the customers’ stories from an empathetic perspective (Gorry & Westbrook, 2011). Paying attention to these experiential narratives whether they are drawn from the past or future expectations based on fantasy, it all goes back to asking ourselves, ‘what is the customer saying?’ Gorry & Westbrook (2011) summarizes these in a nutshell and expresses it as putting oneself in the customers shoes. The response given to these questions makes it possible to carve one’s business in such a way that the customer’s expectations are put into consideration when designing the business model.
Businesses which have become favorites are those that have determined to treat customers as people whose feelings are dynamic and not just numbers (Gorry & Westbrook, 2011). People apart from many other things are driven by emotions (Dasu & Chase, 2010). Being able to tap positively into those emotions are design what can attract those emotions towards a business entity is what will make the whole lot of difference (Dasu & Chase, 2010). Customer service delivery has to impact the psychological persona of a client for it to have a lasting effect (Dasu & Chase, 2010). This way a business will be guaranteed of not only repeat business but also businesses derived from referrals. Customers will grant repeat business and also talk positively about a service that touched their soft side to their friends (Dasu & Chase, 2010).
In summary, for a business to cut itself out above the ever fierce competitive business environment, it must base its business models on a customer-based service or product delivery. What clients need should not be assumed, but it should be learned and understood directly from their perspective. Businesses that go ahead to undertake product or service delivery to consumers based on assumptions have a greater probability of failing than those that take a time to invest in having a prior understanding of the needs of the clients based on qualitative feedback (Bitner, Ostrom, & Morgan, 2008). From this feedback, businesses can then theme their businesses in ways that can influence the psychological and emotional personas of a client and drive them to prefer one business over another. It can be so irrespective of whether the two businesses offer the same kind of services or products.
References
a, L. A., Brown, S. W., & Sirianni, N. J. (2013). The secret to true service innovation. Business Horizons , 56, 13—22.
Berry, L. L., Wall, E. A., & Carbone, L. P. (2006). Service Clues and Customer Assessment of the Service Experience: Lessons from Marketing. Academy of Management Perspectives , Vol. 20 (No. 2), pp. 43-57 .
Bitner, M. J., Ostrom, A. L., & Morgan, F. N. (2008). Service Blueprinting: A Practical Technique For Service Innovation. California Management Review , 50 (3), 66-95.
Dasu, S., & Chase, R. B. (2010). Designing the Soft Side of Customer Service. MIT SLOAN MANAGEMENT REVIEW , 52 (1), 32-41.
Gorry, G. A., & Westbrook, R. A. (2011). Can you hear me now? Learning from customer stories. Business Horizons , 54, 575—584.
Pine, B., & Gilmore, J. (1999). The experience economy: work is theatre & every business a stage. Boston, MA: Harvard Business School Press.
