In my previous career I had the pleasure of flying on and off aircraft carriers. I would argue that I had the most exciting job in the world. Â Often today people ask me why I do not fly recreationally. Â The answer is simple, the experience would be disappointing. Â I have a passion for great experiences. Â Once you get a taste of the world of aspiration everything else seems bland. Â That is exactly the same reaction every company should strive for their customers to have, “everything else seems bland.”
A few years back at Diamond1, I led the conduct of a survey of 85 Fortune 100 companies. Â That survey showed that on average companies enjoy at least a 17.5% price premium over their competition when they design great experiences. Â Furthermore, the data was clear in that while most companies attempt to drive customer retention by fixing pain points, the few (~4%) that focus on designing truly differentiated experiences enjoy far greater customer life time value. Â That survey proved the DBB (Don’t Be Bland) theory applies all over business. Â That’s why xD matters.