We can’t solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them.   – Albert Einstein

Ongoing research by the customer experience group Beyond Philosophy has led to the discovery of a previously unidentified trend on how an organization is “oriented” around the customer to enable it to deliver a Great Customer experience.

To represent this discovery, Beyond Philosophy devised a groundbreaking model that enables organizations to understand where they are, and what they need to do to deliver a great Customer Experience. If the organization recognizes its current position it can clearly understand what it needs to do to “Revolutionize Its Customer Experience.”

Graphically, the model looks like this:

Their research shows there are four distinct orientations organizations go through on their journey to enable them to deliver a great Customer Experience. They call this the Journey from Naïve to Natural.

The four orientations and a brief definition of each are as follows:

• Naïve – an organization that focuses on itself to the detriment of the customer. It is “inside out” either through choice or because it doesn’t know what it should be doing.
• Transactional – an organization that focuses primarily on the physical aspects of the customer experience. While it recognizes the importance of the customer, many aspects of the customer experience are left to chance and are uncoordinated or “inside out.”
• Enlightened – an organization that has recognized the need for a holistic, coordinated, and deliberate approach to the customer experience. It is proactive in nature towards the customer and stimulates planned emotions.
• Natural – an organization where focus on the customer is total. It is very proactive and is naturally focused on the complete customer experience. It uses specific senses to evoke planned emotions.

Their research also showed that organizations are distributed across the four orientations in the following percentages:

Naïve – 9%

Transactional – 67%

Enlightened – 22%

Natural – 2%

Why is this important to church leaders? The four orientations define how organizations are centered or oriented. It’s another way of talking about how your church is oriented to deliver a great Guest Experience.

How does this translate to Guest Experience in ChurchWorld?

The first step in delivering WOW! Guest Experiences is knowing where you are now. By answering the Where are we? question first, you will be in good shape to understand Why you are there, and What you need to do to move forward.

Tomorrow’s post will begin a 4-part series taking a closer look at each of these orientations, with specific application to Guest Experience in churches – like yours.