I had a chance to sit down with Joe Pine and Jim Gilmore, and I asked them where companies should start if they want to fully embrace the experience economy.

Jim’s answer initially surprised me, until I thought about it some more.

He said it starts with a shift in your mindset. You have to recognize the difference between experiences and services and that the service work has to be done differently in order to create memorable interactions.

It’s one of the first things we talk about in this long video interview:

I got to thinking about this when I was, of all things, preparing for a meeting the other day. If you’re preparing from a service mindset, it’s about giving and getting information.

But by shifting to an experience mindset, you take into account the feelings and emotions of the client, not just the services you provide to them. It starts with acknowledging that clients are real people to connect with, not machines to extract information from in order to provide a service.

In the experience economy we find ourselves in, this is a critical distinction, because when it comes to services, clients want them delivered fast and cheap. Why? so that they can spend their time and money on experiences that they value more highly.

So the next time you’re preparing for a client meeting, remember to shift your mindset and act like you are on stage. That will start you on the path providing a great client experience along with your great service.

BTW, I cover a lot of interesting aspects of the experience economy in my half hour interview with Pine & Gilmore. Give it a like so you can come back to it and watch the whole thing. If you really like it, leave a comment about what hit for you. If you REALLY like it, subscribe to my YouTube channel and then shoot me an email to let me know what other kinds of information you would like to see.