IAM2826 – The Importance of Delivering Designed Experiences Instead of Just Products

The Erosion of Product Advantage

Most businesses operate under the belief that they can win solely on features, pricing, or offers. However, as Dr. Chip Bell discusses in this episode, these traditional advantages eventually fade away as markets become more crowded. To thrive over the long term, builders must recognize that a product is just one part of a much larger, humanistic approach to business.

Delivering Designed Experiences

The companies that win long term are those that stop focusing on what they deliver and start focusing on how it is experienced. Customers rarely remember specific features, but they vividly remember how a service made them feel. By shifting your focus toward communication, responsiveness, and clarity, you move beyond “checking the boxes” and begin to differentiate your brand through the details.

This shift transforms your offering from a simple transaction into an experience-driven business that performs better over time.

The Compounding Power of Trust

The real takeaway for any CEO is that customer experience compounds through small, consistent improvements. Differentiation doesn't require “big, huge, gigantic” changes; it requires a constant application of trust-building moments. Ask yourself: “What part of my customer experience would I improve if I were a client going through it?”. Adopting this perspective allows you to implement next-level strategies that create lasting human impact.

Previous episode: https://iamceo.co/iam2825-the-importance-of-taking-control-of-your-health-for-business-success/

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Transcription:

Gresham Harkless 00:00
Most businesses believe they can compete on product. Think about it. Better features, better pricing, better offers. But the reality is, here's what happens. Over time, those advantages start to fade away. In episode number 41 of the I Am CEO podcast, I had a conversation with Dr. Chit Bell, and he's an author and a speaker focused on customer centric strategy. What really stood out was how companies that win long term don't just deliver products, they deliver designed experiences.

If you're building something meaningful, you're in the right place. This is the I Am CEO Podcast. I'm gresh. And for over a decade I've had the honor and the privilege of Learning directly from CEOs, entrepreneurs and business owners just like you on how to build. After recording more than 1600 episodes, one thing has become clear. Success is isn't about following someone else's blueprint. And as I like to say on the show, if you run your own race, you can't lose. Even when we feel the journey should be a straight and linear path, what I've come to find out is success is a lot more like a plate of spaghetti. So in this special segment and episode, I'm starting to curate and share some CEO hacks and CEO nuggets that I've been dying to share. Drawn from thousands of episodes with phenomenal guests that have provided awesome value on the show, but also my 10 years of business experience as well too. These lessons are designed to strengthen the foundational principles that every business is built on and guided by a simple equation that we always go back to with our content. Visibility plus resources times connections equals success. This is practical wisdom you can apply almost immediately. So be sure to check out the show notes for more resources and next steps on how to level up. And of course, enjoy this special episode of the I Am CEO Podcast.

Gresham Harkless 01:53
Most businesses believe they can compete on product. Think about it. Better features, better pricing, better offers. But the reality is, here's what happens. Over time, those advantages start to fade away. In episode number 41 of the I Am CEO podcast, I had a conversation with Dr.Chit Bell and he's an author and a speaker focused on customer centric strategy. What really stood out was how companies that win long term don't just deliver products, they deliver designed experiences. Think about it. Customers don't remember features. They remember how something felt. Which is why you see a lot of products and even services are a lot more experiential. They want to make sure that it's something that is felt on a very humanistic approach. And for builders that are in the weeds, working on the business on an everyday basis. This can be very easy to overlook. You focus on delivering the work, meeting expectations, checking the boxes. But here's the thing. The experience lives in the details. Communication, responsiveness and clarity. Here's where this shift starts to really occur. When you stop asking did we deliver? And start asking how did this customer feel as a result of the experience that we had? And that's where the differentiation starts to happen and occur. Here's the real takeaway. The customer experience starts to compound from there. It's not about doing the big, huge, gigantic things. It's actually the small improvements constantly applied. Create trust over time and trust ultimately can become your advantage. Where does it show up in the offering service pillar? Not just about what you deliver, but how it's experienced is something it's next level because you're not just thinking about what it is that you're doing, you're thinking about the result on a humanistic level of the thing that you're doing. Here's something worth sitting with what part of my customer experience would I improve if I were a client? Going through that perspective can change everything. This is a definite listened to episode because we explore customer strategy, innovation and how experience driven businesses perform over time. It's something that you can implement into your business when you start to go a little bit deeper on how you're creating that experience for the customers and clients you work with.