[Laughter] how many of you have experienced an exceptional customer experience and over-the-top experience at a business maybe a local restaurant a clothing retailer your favorite coffee shop maybe that last hotel or restaurant that you stayed at resort maybe it was the last family vacation you took to Walt Disney World so exceptional that you might have taken a selfie and posted it on social media now I know no one here takes selfies and certainly no one here posts on social media what I do so great like me many of you have experienced exceptional customer service that turned you from a casual shopper to a brand loyal ambassador so why is it that each year roughly 1 million businesses go out of business is it because of Walmart's aggressive low pricing maybe could it be Amazon or another online retailers aggressive free shipping program perhaps is it just that the competitor was that much better at their marketing and sales techniques or all these just excuses and the real answer lies in delivering exceptional customer experiences each and every day I have been fascinated by business and why some succeed and others fail and my career has given me the opportunity to visit literally over a thousand businesses and meet hundreds of executives and entrepreneurs and the ones that stand out are the ones that truly focus on delivering exceptional customer experiences for their clients just like that experience some of you thought about a minute or two ago I want to share a personal story with you about how I was seduced by exceptional customer experience 21 years ago I met Ruth the owner of 10:10 optics while working in New York City just off of Fifth Avenue I didn't find Ruth's store because of a giant sign outside that said 20% off and it wasn't because of a newspaper ad she had placed in the paper and it certainly wasn't because of a Google search I did or email blast that she sent because neither of those options existed in 1996 no I found Ruth store for a very simple reason that day convenience what's kept me coming back for over 20 years is how she treated me on that first visit and frankly every visit sense on that first visit I entered the store and was immediately greeted by an associate who walked me over and introduced me to Ruth Ruth politely asked what brought me in that day and like most individuals that have terrible eyesight I said I'm simply here to get a pair of glasses so I can see and do my work she smiled and laughed and she said no I mean what style of look are you going for what's the look you're going for I never really thought about a look or a style with wearing glasses they were very functional to me so I said well maybe something like Michael J Fox a wireframe she said I'll take it from here she then proceeded to have me try on glasses that were anything but Michael J Fox wireframe like after about 15 minutes she laid out three pairs of frames she says John these are the frames you're going to decide on today option one is somewhat boring ordinary similar to what you were wearing when you walked in today option two is a little nicer an option three is the game changer now most likely you're going to want option one and she was absolutely right I'd already started to take out my wallet to pay for them but she said today I'm going to sell you option number three because it's the right option I reluctantly purchased those glasses that day and two weeks later walked out with my new frames incredibly self-conscious had I made the right decision did Ruth honestly sell me the best pair of frames for my face and personality or did she sell me the frames that were going to generate the highest profit for her store a few seconds later a woman walked up to me total stranger and she said Wow I love those frames Ruth is good she literally had somebody waiting outside the store to compliment customers as they walked out well done it wasn't until I received the fifth compliment on my commute home that day that I realized that Ruth was truly a genius and had delivered an exceptional customer experience and by the way my wife Cynthia absolutely loved them customer experience isn't about necessarily the product or service that you offer it's about how you make someone feel during the buying journey and frankly after the purchase has been made Maya Angelou said it best they may forget what you said but they will never forget how you made them feel and Ruth made me feel excited nervous confident and important all at the same time she had truly delivered on her promise of delivering exceptional customer service so 21 years later I continue to receive compliments on my glasses in fact someone outside before the the TED talk it was named was Ted actually said he loved my frames and 20 years plus later I still go to Ruth's even though I have to travel three hours each way to get to her location in New York take a personal vacation day to make an appointment during the week okay what's more ironic is there are literally a hundred optic centers that are closer and online options that are more convenient and certainly less expensive the answer is simple and it's why so many other businesses that focus on exceptional customer service do so well like Mitchell's of Westport that open their doors in 1958 they are men's and women's clothing store in Westport Connecticut ways it's cheese shop in Wellesley Massachusetts that open their doors in 1964 and as you can guess purveyors of fine cheeses as well as wines and other gourmet items and my favorite Jewish deli in Ann Arbor Michigan that opened their doors in 1982 Zingerman's in Ann Arbor Michigan that is absolutely spectacular and again 1982 now these businesses don't just survive they thrive and it's not because I can buy clothing at Mitchells that no one else carries or that I can get cheeses at the lowest price at ways exchanged are or that I can order a pastrami on rye with or without mustard at Zingerman's no the answer is simple it's what they all have in common they all focus on delivering exceptional customer experiences each and every day it's what keeps the barrier between them and their competitors delivering customer experience isn't just good for the customer by the way it's actually good business and Forrester Research did a study over a five-year period and in in 2016 they published this paper and what they found was companies that truly focus on exceptional experiences for customers outperformed the leaders outperform the laggers in customer experience significantly in revenue so it's not just good for customers it's just good business to have excellent customer service so so as as we look forward technology marketing techniques and sales channels will continue to evolve and continue to push these businesses as well as roofs and maybe your someday but as long as they stay true to their core principles of delivering exceptional customer service I am confident I'm gonna be able to buy really nice clothing enjoy the finest of cheeses and order a pastrami on rye extra mustard all while wearing the perfect pair of frames I was seduced by exceptional customer experience and I couldn't be happier thank you