A repaired car that runs is the result, but how you scheduled the appointment, treated the customer on the garage floor, and handled pickup is the service. Those touchpoints shape what customers remember far more than the technical outcome, and improving them costs almost nothing.
Results and service are not the same thing. There's this, you know, because you're getting your car fixed, right? There's going to be getting a good result, which is drop off your car and you get back and it's working and you can drive again. Then there's the service. What was the experience of setting up an appointment? What was the— what was it like being on the garage floor? What was it like getting pickups? Did you have to like sort of rearrange your day in order to drop off at the time that was needed, or was there something to accommodate you? Those kinds of questions. Those all come together to create an experience of service. Because services are not consumed, because they are experienced, that experience part, that service part, is super, super important for creating a really high-value impression on the customer's mind. So, ask yourself, how are you doing those little things? The amazing thing is it doesn't cost a lot of money for you to create a really good experience for the customer, but keep it in mind, the service is not the same as results. If anything, it's more important.
