Are you meeting the needs of your class members at all the times and in all the ways necessary to bond with them and inspire them? It might be useful for you to spend some time thinking about those relationships in a new way—a way used by businesses.
You can use a business theory to think more about your relationship with the persons in your class. Many businesses have embraced the concept of customer experience. Adam Richardson, writing in the Harvard Business Review, defines customer experience as “the sum-totality of how customers engage with your company and brand, not just in a snapshot in time, but throughout the entire arc of being a customer.” Forbes magazine adds that customer experience is the “cumulative impact of multiple touchpoints” over the course of a customer’s interaction with an organization.
By touchpoints customer experience theory means all contacts with the company at all levels.
- All contacts, for a company, means point of sale, advertising, hiring practices, news coverage, charitable donations, and public positions.
- All levels means that it is no longer sufficient to just address the material or physical need for which a product is made. According to Adam Richardson, customer experience means that “touchpoints should reach unmet/underlying/latent needs.” Customer experience thus considers emotional and spiritual needs as well as physical ones in defining a comprehensive customer experience.
The more contacts, and the more levels, at which a business can positively interact with its customer, the more loyalty it can achieve. Customer experiences with the company can then become important to the consumer or even unforgettable.
If we apply the customer experience model to indoor cycling instructions, what can we learn?
Riders, as customers, are looking for unique and authentic experiences that are fulfilling for them in multiple ways. What can you add to your class to give your students not just a ride, but a real customer experience?