One of the most challenging things for a business to do is to strike the right balance of automated systems and customized experiences.

Every business must have a repeatable process – something you can do for every client, teach to every new employee, and perform with excellence.

But every business must also have an experience customized to the client – that is only and exactly for that client.

• The service is time well-saved. The experience is time well-invested.
• The service is what you do. The experience is how you do it.
• The service should be frictionless. The experience is the friction.
• The service is expected. The experience is a surprise.
• The service is one-to-many. The experience is one-to-one.
• The service can be forgettable. The experience must be memorable.
• The service is delivered. The experience is staged.

I learned much of this from Joe Pine and Jim Gilmore (pictured with me here), the authors of the Experience Economy and the experts behind OnStage: Customer Experience Training.

Figure out how to balance the service and the experience, and you will have an enduring business.