I stopped for coffee recently at a little drive-thru place. The coffee was pretty good, the employee was polite, and the service was quick. But the experience of pulling up to the window left a lasting memory. You could pull up to a window on either side of the small building, but the windows were strangely high for a drive-thru. Sitting in my Honda CR-V the top of my head was just below the bottom of the service window. I’m sure glad I don’t drive a Mini. The employee, towering above me, was able to take and fill my order with only a little stretching on my part, but it was clear that the builder of the drive-thru hadn’t considered the people who would actually be using it.
The window—not their product or service—made the biggest impression on me. Even if they served the best coffee on earth, I’ll remember and talk about the crazy-tall window. The messages we send are more than the words, images and products we produce. They are the lingering feelings and scattered memories of an experience—an experience you can have a hand in forming. With careful consideration of those who use your product, visit your business, interact with your website or read your advertising, you can create lasting and positive memories.
