Share Experiences That Spur Buying, Loyalty And Learning

What does the New England Patriots’ “rabid” fans’ active sharing mid-game comments via immersive Wi-Fi have in common with Peabody hotel guests’ avid videoing and picture-snapping of the daily duck walk? Or  parents standing in front a large store wall of bewildering choices in children’s car seats, looking down at their free Car Seat Helper app from Phoenix Children’s Hospital, comforted in knowing they’ll be able make a wise choice about their child’s safety?

Spur Sharing to Solidify Connections, Centered Around What You Offer

Each of those situations spur positive, shared experiences, shaped by organizations that seek to serve people better at the right time and in helpful ways. From the Gillette Stadium and sports team managers to the hotelier and hospital leaders, they all recognize  that these multi-step moments boost involvement, loyalty and the bragging rights that bring other customers and stakeholders closer too. Instilling bragging rights is dubbed The Ultimate Moment of Truth by Brian Solis in his newest book, What’s the Future of Business: “It represents the experience that people share after using your product and engaging with your company over time. Blog posts, YouTube videos, reviews, each in their own way direct people to take their next steps accordingly.”

“Because I helped to wind the clock, I come to hear it strike.” ~ William Butler Yeats

Solis see this approach as especially vital now because, “The connected consumer can become a formidable foe or ally for any organization. As such, the proactive investment in positive experiences now represents a modern and potentially influential form of consumer marketing and service.” I heartily eartily agree.  I also believe that the most impactful, change-evoking experiences still happen in-person, as experienced by the duck-watching hotel guests or the sports fans, sitting by side, sharing with others near and far.

“High Touch” Is Still Needed in An increasingly High Tech WorldWay back in 1999 John Naisbitt and Douglas Philips described the “fabulous innovations and devastating consequences of technology’s saturation of American society” in their book, High Tech/High Touch, a topic Naisbitt first raised upon even earlier in his prescient 1982 book Megatrends. We have an unalterable need to “connect with the physical world”, they wrote, and with each other, I would add. As Solis says in several places, “technology is just a tool.”

Our desire, as social animals, regardless of temperament— to feel known, appreciated and valuable  — provides the motivation for social sharing – and learning.

Dr. Atul Gawande, would concur. He discovered that…(See the rest of the column over at Forbes.)