Most consumer experience ordinary life things - filling the gas tank, buying groceries, grabbing a quick lunch. Such problems are, for the most part are neither fun nor painful, they are just things that need to be checked from the list. Indeed, the authors say that they are so neutral that people often choose a seller with a little thought and forgotten experience in a matter of hours. Some service providers neutral want to keep things that way. They want to be as comfortable and reliable that people continue to use them carelessly. For some mature service companies, however, can be a fun addition to an important difference. The authors present three case studies drawn from industries not known for fun - furniture retail, consumer banking and grocery business - to show how it can be incorporated into the lucrative benefits. Jordan's Furniture, Commerce Bank and Stew Leonard operate their core business models to very high standards of quality. But they also have what it takes to make an ordinary experience into something positive: strong leadership, a clear vision, discriminatory filter for new employees, focus on hiring for attitude, not skills and the ability to come up with the unexpected. The authors offer some general guidelines and precautions to help managers, who may try to repeat these successful companies. "Hide
by Ivor Morgan, Jay Rao Source: MIT Sloan Management Review 5 pages. Publication Date: 01 Oct 2003. Prod. #: SMR123-PDF-ENG
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