Customer Experience | Ep 024

John: What's going on everyone? This is our final episode in the branding series. Such a great series, and I'm excited to hear how we're gonna wrap this up. 

Kacie: Yeah, I'm excited too. Today we're going into creating an experience. A lot of people don't think of an experience as branding. So important. How you make people feel is so important.

John: So let's get into it. 

The Business Project podcast business can be complicated. We break it down to regular people like us can understand and find success. I'm John Crespo, accountant and consultant. I'm Kacie Bryant, marketer and event planner. If you run a business or want to run a business, Welcome to the show.

John: All right, so branding and how you feel, it makes people feel a certain way. It 

Kacie: does, and a lot of times when a business is getting started and creating their branding, they are, they don't even think about it. They just say, Hey, the majority don't think about it. For sure. Yeah. Hey, I like these colors, or I like this font, or, this looks good together.

This is pretty. But they don't really think about being intentional about what those colors, how those colors make people feel. Cuz certain colors are associated with certain things not intentionally in their brain. And also certain fonts make you feel a certain way. And certain shapes make you feel a certain way.

And so today we're just gonna talk about how you make people feel with your branding. Also, it's not just colors and shapes and fonts, it's the customer experience. 

John: Mm. The sound, the look, the feel, the smell. 

Kacie: All that, yeah. Is part of your branding. You 

John: know what, that's funny that you bring that up cuz I, it makes me think of a couple businesses out there, like different industries.

So you go to a. Right, and it looks like the colors or the feel that you have in the bank is all about spending money or, or something that has to do that financially and it makes you like, put it like kind of puts you in that mode. But when you go to a spa, right, if you're going into a spa one that's really nicely put together and there's a smell, a relaxation, like you go in and you smell the relax.

like you ever feel, you ever feel that way? Yeah. Mm-hmm. ? Um, not that I go into spas all the time. Uh, I'm like, okay, maybe I need one , . But it reminds me of that kind of stuff. 

Kacie: Yeah. It is. It's so intentional about how they, how they make you feel. And you even think within like micro, within each. Business type of business.

So think of the banks. Mm-hmm. , you go into different banks, you guys try that, go into different businesses. Next time you go into a business, just really pay attention to the way that you feel when you walk in that business. Yeah. How are you greeted? How does it smell? Is it bright? Is it dark? Is it. Um, is the music playing?

Is the customer service good? The colors, does it feel warm and welcoming or does it feel like cold and corporate and, um, and so start, once you start paying attention to that, that is part of that business' branding there is, I love to talk about, there's a church that I went to for a really long time and I was on staff at that church and, uh, I found out that there is a, smell.

So they have, they have like smell. Mm-hmm. dispensers all over the church. Really? And the pastor went and smelled like 20 different smells and found this one smell. And so now they have it all throughout the church. And does it make you more holy ? 

John: Yeah, probably. You feel the Holy Spirit with 

Kacie: that smells?

Yeah. Anytime I smell it, I'm like, film me Lord um, , but. . Now, anytime I smell something similar to that, I think of that church. I'll bring you back. 

John: That's it. Does

Kacie: I got that. Yeah. Maple. Yeah. And you think about, you know, your grandma's cookies or whatever, if your grandma made chocolate chip cookies, and anytime you smell that smell, like that's kind of part of your grandma's branding , 

John: it's like, uh, deja vu sometimes, right?

Uh, you just me, just reminded me like, um, I can be walking down the street or just go into. A building somewhere or just going do be doing something, all of a sudden there's this smell that just triggers this nostalgic, like deja vu kind of feeling brings you back, brings you back. Um, so that's, that's very important if you do it, like you said, intentionally.

Like you have to be intentional. I like that word, intentionally. Um, if we approach what we do with intention, then, you know, it's, you're, you're, you're gonna find the. kind of pieces and the right looks. And the right smells that make people have the nostalgic feeling like you just had when they, when they come across it.

Mm-hmm. . That is very important. 

Kacie: It is very important. And there's, I think people get overwhelmed cuz there's so many pieces to it. There's the fonts and the colors and the shapes and the logo and the feel of the paper and all those things that we talked about in our last podcast. , but then there's also the smell and the lighting and the color of the furniture.

And is it, you know, hard furniture? Is it cushiony furniture? Like all of that stuff, the pictures on the wall, the color of the paint, like all of that stuff matters. And, and so I think there's just so many things that sometimes we're like, okay, we're just gonna pick this cuz we like this, or this is cheap so we're gonna buy it.

the way all of those things come together is so important, and you can really use this as an advantage in your business. Like the church with the smell. Mm-hmm. , you know, that is something that they created, whether it was intentional or not. . Now, every time I go somewhere and I smell that smell, I think of that church.

And you can create that in your business. Right. And I think even, you know, restaurants is a great example of this too. I have a friend, I never even paid attention to this, and still I started until I started eating with this friend. But she is obsessed with when a business opens, like how does this make me feel?

Mm. And so she's the one that I like to go to all the grand openings with because she. Notices, the lighting, she notices. Is the music too loud or is it too like rambunctious Is the, you know, the feel of the silverware and the plates and the, all of the things. Does it fit together and does it make me feel good?

And, and so I think if you are in an environment where people are coming to your business and experiencing your business by being there, then all of these things really, really matter. 

John: And I think that's, if you do. Then you're creating an environment where, where your clients can want to come back to.

Right? So they're so a restaurant, right? Um, that creates that right feel that right look, the right smell creates the environment where they're gonna have those customers that just keep, that's where that's their go-to spot, where it becomes their go-to spot. Um, so it's putting, like, making it fe making you or me like your.

feel that certain way. If she really likes it, then she's gonna visit again. Mm-hmm. , so repeat clientele is huge for a business to be 

Kacie: successful. Mm-hmm. . Yep. And making sure that your branding makes them feel a certain way so that they'll want to feel that way again. Mm-hmm. , that's what our bodies go towards.

Pleasure. And so if you create a pleasurable experience all the way around, then they're gonna wanna experience that again. And maybe they would even be willing to pay more for that experience. 

John: Mm. That's in, that's good. Make 'em pay up. Yes. Be intentional. 

Kacie: Be intentional. So, um, excuse me. We'll talk about, um, not just the, let's get into the colors first.

Okay. Because I feel like there's a lot of, there's a lot of layers and it can get overwhelming. Yeah. So let's get into the colors. I made some notes. Um, The, you know, obviously like as you're creating your branding and if you already have branding, these are some really good things to consider. I listened to you a podcast that I absolutely love.

I've been listening to this podcast for years. It's, it's amazing. They have a, she has a little like jingle at the beginning mm-hmm. that I, I love and I, you know, even my kids like have gotten to know the little jingle and her podcast, she does a great job with her brand. Well, she recently announced that she's completely rebranding.

She's changing her jingle, she's changing her logo and her things, and I'm like panicking a little bit cause I'm like, that's part of my life. I love your little jingle. It makes me so happy. But, um, but that's a great example of she's been doing it for a while and she's, she wants to update and create something new, and I will love that one, I'm sure, just as much as I did the old one.

And so that's just a, I'm using that as an example. Even if you've been in business for a long time, you can still update your, and you probably need. Update your colors and your fonts and your jingles and all those things that are associated with your business. 

John: Yeah, I, uh, I agree with that. Um, you look at these big, um, companies, every now and then they'll, they refresh their look.

you know, whether it's softening the way the font looks, you know, going from rigid font to like rounder font and stuff like that. Um, you know, they're keep, they keep the same foundation sometimes, or for the most part I see them keeping the same foundation but doing just minor adjustments to refresh mm-hmm.

you know, to keep it, um, with the time, because I guess, you know, as time change, So does what people relate to and 

Kacie: styles and colors and Yeah. You know, they have, if you look at vintage logos, vintage logos look very different from 2023 logos. Yeah. You know, it's just, there's different style techniques. So, um, let's talk about colors really quick because.

Colors can be used. Um, very intentional. If you, if you look at banks, bank's a good example. Mm-hmm. , we just talked about banks. Um, blue, a lot of them use the color blue because blue is very, you have blue in your logo. Mm-hmm. . Yep. Blue is very, I'm not a bank though. I know. It's wish it was . 

John: Well, not right now.

They're suffering right 

Kacie: now. No, not right now. Um, yeah. So Blue makes you feel comfortable. It's like comfortable and cozy and it asso, it's associated for the most part, with feeling secure. Mm. And so that's why a lot of banks use Blue in their logo. Yeah. A lot of them use blue. A lot of them do. They're very smart, bold colors.

Bold and bright colors attract attention. And so you got it red, right? Red on blue. So you want people to feel comfortable with you, which is great for your branding. Those were actually really, really good colors for what you do, because, um, that's what you, your business coach and you work with people's finances and their numbers, and so that's really important,

But then the red is like pop, like, hey, look at. CFD Services Inc. Is here, let's do this. Yes. Um, and so colors can just be a very, very important part of your branding. And being, um, intentional as you're picking your colors is so important. So let's see some other ones. Um, red is associated with passion and excitement.

Blue with calmness and relaxation. . So persuasion colors can be used to persuade customers to purchase. Green is often associated with health and wellness. And so a lot of times when you see food packages that are supposed to be healthier, Publix, what color? Yeah. Publix. Publix is green. Mm-hmm. . Exactly. And I think, I mean, I'm a big fan of organic and all of that stuff, and almost all the packages are brown and like cream and green.

John: Very interesting. I didn't realize that. You know, you, you said, uh, persuasive the color of persuasion. I wanna know what that color is so I can use it on my wife. , . 

Kacie: The color of persuasion. Just wear that cuz she's gonna be like, man, you wear that color all the time. . 

John: Yes. There's a reason it's intentional.

Kacie: it's so funny. Anytime you get in a fight and you have to have a serious talk, I wear that color. Hold on, I'll be right back. I have to go change it. . Very good. That 

John: is so funny. See, that can be used in all kinds of aspects of life, not just 

Kacie: business. Yeah, very true. Um, so contextual association, they can also be used to create associations with certain context or cultures.

So for an example, red and gold are associated with good luck and prosperity in the Chinese. . Very cool. So you think, like, I think of, you know, Africa. Like Africa, we have a store, an African market here, and you walk in and everything is so colorful like reds and yellows and greens. That's because in Africa that's a lot of their, yeah.

Their culture is very colorful. So if you're, you know, if you're American fast food restaurant, your colors are probably gonna be very different than if you're, you know, a Chinese buffet. 

John: Mm-hmm. . Yeah. Very. , I'm just thinking about how I'm driving down the, the main drag here with all the chain restaurants and notice.

How their color structure is. Yeah, you can tell the 

Kacie: difference. You can, yep. So just some things to consider when you're picking colors and you know, you don't have to use a lot of these if you're trying to persuade somebody or do something you know you can use. These are just things that you can use also in the background of your branding.

So when we create your branding, you have your logo, but then you also also have your accent colors that you're using. And so for example, if you're making a brochure, and you want people to look at that brochure and just feel calm and comfortable as they're reading it, then you might wanna consider using some blue in that brochure.

Very cool. Or even blue in the pictures of the 

John: brochure. Very cool. And I think that the main point is that you, you should be intentional, right? You should look at your business and say, what is the purpose? Of why are we in business, right? Who is our target market? Right? And then be intentional about what you put into place to attract that 

Kacie: market.

Yep. That's a good point To important knowing your target market too. Yeah. 

John: Business project.com teaches all of that . 

Kacie: It does. Yes. And our very first series, we did an amazing first series. All we went through all of this, so, um, just to like, Closeups the first part of this, we're gonna go over several aspects of it.

So the first part was just paying attention and being intentional with your colors and your font. Scripty is usually girly and block is like, you know, taking control and masculine. And so as you're creating these logos and, and your brochures and your online and your print, which we talked about mm-hmm.

previously. Uh, it's not about what you like and it's not about what you think looks pretty, but about your target market. Uh, very 

John: true. Very true. So important. 

Kacie: Yeah. Yeah. So then, uh, we talked a little bit about the way it makes you feel. This is the second part, uh, the way your business makes people feel.

And they're so many aspects that go into this part of it because it's when they're walking in your building, when they're calling you on the phone. when they are, you know, receiving emails when they are, um, when they see a commercial or they see a brochure or they go to your social media. Like all of this is incorporated in your branding and it's, it's how you make people feel.

So, um, let's talk about systems because mm-hmm. , I think this whole point. Is the best way to think about it and I feel like make it a little less overwhelming is to think about the systems that you put in place in your business. Yeah. And not just putting a system in place just to make things easier to delegate, but to put these systems in place to make sure that you are being very intentional about the way you make people feel when they go through your systems, about their 

John: experience, client experience.

I used to work for, um, a big bank. And one of the major, um, focuses after a while was putting yourself in the shoes of your client, right? Um, approach your day, putting yourself in the shoes of your client. So when it comes to the systems that you're implementing for your business, you have to implement them with the mindset of how is, how are they gonna feel going through this process?

in interacting with us. Um, you know, is it gonna be a good client experience or is it gonna be rough? Like when you're calling these big companies and you're on the phone on hold forever, it's a bad experience, right? Or you're, you're pushing one, then two, then three, then four, then pound and all that stuff just to get to somebody that's a bad experience, right?

So as a small business, , how are you putting the right processes in place to ensure that the client experience is going to be a good one? Right. To increase engagement and interaction. 

Kacie: Yeah, and I think it's really hard sometimes as a small business to think about this because. , you, we get, so we, we wear a lot of hats.

So like we're involved in the accounting and we're involved mm-hmm. in the emails and we're involved in the answering the phones and we're involved in creating the website and all of these things. And, and so we get, like, it makes sense to us because we know our business and we know the process and we know the ultimate, like where they wanna go.

But then when somebody brand new comes in that has never seen your business before and they go through that same process, it may make absolutely no sense to them. Right. Because they've never. Heard of your business, they have no idea what you do. So I think as you're creating these systems, thinking about customer experience from the customer's perspective, that's really great.

Not just your perspective. Yep. 

John: That's, yeah, that's gonna be huge because it's not you that's paying you. It's your customer that's paying you or so you wanna make sure that they are, they're fine with, um, paying you and then willing to pay you again. And 

Kacie: nowadays people's attention span is so short.

Mm-hmm. , if they go to your website and they don't automatically see where they need to go to contact you or get what they need, they're off to another website. Yep. So true. Same with your Facebook page. I do it all the time. Yeah, me too. Yep. . So, um, when you're, create some systems, I think to just consider.

Is, um, the customer experience when they're walking in your door. If you have people that come in from the moment they walk in your door, how they feel. Like we had mentioned the lighting, the music, the look and feel of the furniture, the color of the walls, the sound, the smells, all of that, just being very intentional about.

When they walk in your door, when they The greeting. The greeting. Right. Exactly. That's important. Yep. The um, and then when they see your business online or on print, it does that all work in, in a cohesive manner. Because if they see your website and then they walk in your store and they feel it feels like two completely different businesses, they're gonna be disconnected.

It's, it's not, that's not a good thing. You want that. You want it to. from the online to the print to the experience. Even when they call you emails, if you have any sort of, um, email, um, subscription set up. Mm-hmm. , um, what is that called? The, like the email chains Yeah. That you have set up in your business.

Uh, even, you know, the way your emails look is, is a reflection of your business and how people feel. And so if you're, you know, wanting. come across as a business that provides, is very trustworthy and provides a lot of information and like you're there whenever they need you, then your emails need to look that way.

Mm-hmm. . And they need to come across that way, not salesy. And you can probably think of some businesses right away. Um, I'm trying to think of, there's a. Commercial that's like, you know, back in the nineties where it's like any of this, the Gangu, was it 

John: the Gangu knife? ? Yeah, 

Kacie: I think so. . Yeah. Any of those, um, what's that shopping network, you know, like, oh, home shopping network.

Home shopping book. Buy one and get three free now. And it like lays all three across. Um, you know, if that's, if that's the way you want people to feel when they see your business infomercial style. Yes. Yes. Then, you know, that's one form of marketing and that's one form of branding and, and just Right. You know, feel, and that needs to go all the way when they go to your website, then they need to see, like, look at these beautiful things and how it works.

Like, buy one and get three free now. Mm-hmm. , it's all about. And, and, you know, and, and just selling multiple amount and they, they feel like, oh, special, I get three. How amazing is that? Right? They feel like they were taken care of in that way, but if you're more on quality and you know, you trust me, because you're only gonna have to.

Pay me once and it's gonna be done. Right. And value focused. Value focused, yeah. Then that's a very different feeling from the very beginning to the very end. 

John: Very true. Very true. Yeah. And, and that goes into like, like we said before, understanding who your market is and understanding what you're trying to do.

If you wanna be a discount retailer and you wanna sell volume, then the infomercial style might work for you. Right. But if you want to be a maybe advisory type of person and or you know, some type of value. Um, for someone, then you wanna make sure that that's what they feel when they look at everything that you all, everything that you're throwing at 'em, they want to see that there's value associated with it and it goes into pricing Yep.

As well. 

Kacie: And Yep. Pricing and systems and, you know, think of a fast food stored, I think this is one restaurant, this is one that we can all relate to quickly, is if you go into a fast food re. . Those all look very, like everything is made to be quick, right? The customer service, the way you order is quick.

Mm-hmm. , the drive-through is quick and usually you get your food quick. So if you go into a fast food restaurant and it takes 20 minutes to get your food, you're probably not gonna be happy. Right? Because that was what you expected from the website to the way you ordered, to the way it was handled.

Whether you know, I mean, you should know it's a fast food restaurant by all of those processes that they've put in place. So if you go there and you expect. One thing and you get another thing, you're gonna be really upset. 

John: Even the seating, you ever notice the seating in a fast food restaurant? Like it's meant for you not to sit there for a long time.

No, it's hard. Eat your food and gum and cold. Yeah. We need, we need to get people moving in and out. Exactly. Yeah. So that, but it's part of the, it's part of their brand and you kind of go in there expecting that and it's okay, people do it. People still do it if they're in, in a rush to go nowhere, 

Kacie: right?

Yeah, exactly. . Yeah. So plastic seats, , plastic, hard 

John: seats, , 

Kacie: prison seats, and temperature. That's another one is a lot of times the restaurants are colder because they want you to eat and they wanna turn those tables so they, yeah. They intentionally make it cold so that you'll eat and peace out. 

John: Very true. Oh, you know what?

I noticed that, yeah, the other day we were at a restaurant. It was. It's extra cold in here, but there's a purpose behind that. They're like, 

Kacie: eat and leave, sir. Yeah. We need, right. We need another person to sit down. Yes. . Yes. 

John: We gotta pump you guys out. Yeah. , that's, that's pretty interesting. Yeah. You know, just now that you can, just, after this conversation, and I don't know if you're, the audience is having this same kind of like, um, thought process around it, but now you're actually, you're able to think about the different experiences you.

When you went to different places and start picking out, okay, that's why they did this. Okay. That's why they did that. They did that. This is important. This is important. That's why this is important, because when you understand it, then you know how to implement it. 

Kacie: Yeah, for sure. And so we hope that this was super helpful.

We went over. A lot today. Yeah. I feel like it's just a lot to think about and, and don't be scared to reach out to your other business owner friends and your friends in general. You can reach out to us on social media and engage in our community and just, you know, say, Hey, this is, this is what I'm trying to create.

Is that what this feels like? Yeah. Because it's, it's very, very important. You're not gonna be able to do it by yourself, I guess is what I'm trying to say. You just can't cuz you're so into your own 

John: business. Very true. Get outta your silo. Get outta your. . Right. And communicate with the community, with us, with the business project because that's what we're here 

Kacie: for.

Yeah. Don't feel bad about doing it. Nah. Cuz we're all going through it. We are. Everybody is 

John: still like, share, subscribe. So this gets out to the masses because everyone needs to 

Kacie: hear this. Download it. Superly helps us. Yes. Download. When you download, whether you're on Apple or Spotify, or I hear radio, if you click that download button, it helps our stats.

John: That's right. Let's go. Let's push this out. Yeah. Yeah. So 

Kacie: important. All right guys. . We did good. Love. We're at like you 25 minutes. Yeah. They're not bad. Not bad. Yeah. We're trying to make 'em shorter for you. Yes. Short, sweet, and to the point. Yep. 

John: We know you guys have 

Kacie: things to do. Yes. So our next podcast will be a summary of our second series.

Cool. Which was our finance series, if I'm remembering correctly. Yes. It'll be Oh, nice. It'll be a whole summary of our finance series. So if you miss the finance series, we're just gonna give you a quick. 30 minute recap of the whole thing. Yeah, that's, 

John: and one loans and business credit and all that stuff.

That'll be a good, that's gonna be good. I can't wait for that to come out. 

Kacie: That'll be good. Yeah. And then our next series after this is interviews. 

John: Yes. We get some industry heavyweights to chime in. That's gonna be fun. So follow along because we have some great content coming out for you. 

Kacie: We, I'm really excited.

We've already done several interviews and we have several more scheduled. This is by far my favorite so far. Yeah, it's gonna be a lot of fun. I cannot wait for you guys to hear from some of these people. I mean, some of them are amazing in business. They are. Yeah. All of them are amazing in business. They are.

Yeah. 

John: They're heavyweights. They're heavyweights, I'm telling you. So you wanna, you gonna wanna listen in and and follow along because it's gonna be some good nuggets. 

Kacie: Yes. Cool. Well thank you guys. 

John: You guys have a great one. We'll see you later.