BUSINESS COMMENT
Coast River Business Journal
November 2020 • 13
Price matters
Does customer experience still matter in an era of cheaper, faster, easier?
By Jessica Newhall
Clatsop Community College
Small Business Development Center
A headline from a weekly business newsletter
crossed my inbox recently and caught my attention.
It read: “Price matters more than experience in
2020.” For so long, we have been talking about
customer experience as a way for businesses to
distinguish themselves in highly competitive
marketplaces. So, this headline led me to question
— in the era of cheaper, faster, easier, is customer
experience still the differentiator it once was?
The pandemic has caused a seismic shift in how
consumers are spending their money. Whether due
to real (furloughed or laid off) or perceived (fear
of job loss or economic downturn) circumstances,
spending power has taken a hit. Consumers are
also changing where they shop and what they are
shopping for. In the absence of being able to get
out as freely as one did pre-pandemic and visit a
local business, consumers are choosing to get their
retail therapy fix via the internet. Additionally,
experiences are harder to come by and as a result
consumer goods are increasingly replacing them
in the budget.
I recently had the pleasure of visiting
Leavenworth, Washington. If you have not been
there before it is quite spectacular — and boasts
its own remarkable story of reinvention in a crisis.
What was once a thriving logging community, the
town found itself in a steep decline by the 1960s.
Local leaders came together in 1962 and decided
to take advantage of its remarkable geographic
positioning, nestled in the mountains, and remake
it into a Bavarian-style village. They completely
remodeled the town, and it was reborn as a
thriving tourist destination boasting over 3 million
visitors per year.
The pandemic has deeply impacted
Leavenworth’s economy. Their local newspaper
recently reported that tourism-related tax revenue
was down by 40%. Yet, much like what visitors
to our region experience, small businesses
throughout town were open and serving customers
— demonstrating extraordinary tenacity and
capacity for keeping the economy churning.
A highlight of our visit was dining at the
restaurant Mana which boasts a farm-to-table
menu that is 90% locally sourced. Upon arrival we
were greeted with warmth and high standards for
following COVID protocols were evident. Once
you were at your table you felt safe to truly relax
and savor each delectable moment. We enjoyed a
glorious pre-set five course menu and perfectly
paired wines and were expertly led through the
culinary experience by the chef and his attentive
team. When the bill was delivered at the end of the
meal, we found ourselves talking about the $150
per person tab as “well worth the investment” for
the 2.5-hour experience, which actually began
far before we arrived at the restaurant.
My path to discovering Mana started with a
friend I follow on Instagram whom I consider
to be a taste maker. I happened to catch that she
was in Leavenworth while I was planning our
trip and I took note of the places that she posted
and recommended, including Mana. Upon
further investigation, social media was full of
vibrant pictures of people enjoying delicious
food, the online reviews were stellar and I was
able to easily navigate to where I could book a
table online. When they called 48 hours prior
to our reservation to confirm, they told me how
excited they were to have us join them. From the
moment my friend posted a picture of her food
on Instagram to paying the bill and all the steps
in between, I was deeply immersed in a positive
purchasing experience.
Evaluating the buyer’s purchasing process,
from the point of view of the restaurant owner, is
called customer journey mapping. Each encounter
a potential customer has with their business
represents an opportunity where they could
experience was a bigger focus than our final tab.
Price erosion and declining profits are a very
real and present danger in this economy for small
businesses. As we approach the critical holiday
shopping season it will be critical to put in the
work to deeply understand your customer and
create valuable and rich purchasing experiences
for them. So, get out a piece of paper and start
mapping their journey today! The more you can
design delight for them at each encounter along
the way, the greater chance you have to stem the
tide towards cheaper, faster, easier.
Jessica Newhall is the associate director
and Small Business Management program
manager for the Clatsop Community College
Small Business Development Center. She can be
reached at jnewhall@clatsopcc.edu.
Jessica Newhall
deliver exceptional value — and value trumps
price time and time again. In our case with Mana,
we knew we paid a much higher price than some
of the dining alternatives available (or other ways
we could spend our money) but our remarkable
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