If it doesn’t show on the screen, it doesn’t exist.

I spent many years in television production. Many decisions were made related to project costs and value add. Our mantra was, “if it doesn’t show on the screen, it doesn’t exist.”

Your company has the same dilemma. Where do we place our precious resources related to the customer experience?

Step one is to map out all of your customer touchpoints, that’s your exposure. Those touch points are where you can break a customer relationship or cement it.

• That first incoming telephone call to your call center.
• A casual inquiry or clarifying customer question.
• The exterior of a service truck.
• An outbound email as part of a customer campaign.
• How a customer opens the box containing your product.
• What happens when (if) your product breaks.
• A hundred more.

If an element of your product or service offering is critical but invisible, how do you get credit for it as your competitive advantage?