A small introduction: Santini is an ice cream shop established more than 70 years ago near Cascais and was one of the first in Portugal to make Italian Gelato, gaining popularity national and internationally.
“Dad, where are we going?”
“We’re going to eat ice cream at Santini.”
“Yay! Can i eat the strawberry one please?”
“Of course you can son, the strawberry is your favorite!”
“Yupiii !!!”
With the pure and innocent joy of a child, my body jumped with excitement anticipating the delicious moment. Along the way I’d probably think about 50 different flavor combinations, but always with the strawberry!
When it came time to choose, that showcase full of delicious flavors always made me hesitate… but with some (or a lot) of help I would finally chose, and we ended up strolling around the area while enjoying my tasty ice cream.
This was a ritual that we didn’t do very often, because at the time we did not live nearby and only occasionally did this tour, which made the occasion even more special.
Interestingly many years later, when already working in the IT area I went to live near the Santini store next to the old factory and halfway to the local beach. So every time I went to the beach I had the tasty and difficult dilemma of deciding whether to stop at the store before or after the sun and sea bathing. I’m sure that sometimes I didn’t take the healthier option and went there both times!
And already in a more adult phase, during these moments of tasting I started noticing all the details of the place. The clean aspect of the shop, the impeccable decoration and the friendly and efficient service. And every time I tasted that fresh and delicious ice cream, a simple visit to the ice cream store transcended to an experience so pleasant and positive that it made me not only a loyal customer, but a strong defender of the brand.
What I came to realize later, is that in this example was the true essence of the term customer experience, which combines service and product quality, in order to retain customers and also make them true ambassadors for the company.
Service quality is a key factor to customer experience, however at Sollogica we consider that product quality is equally or even more important. Because being customer experience the set of perceptions and impressions that a consumer has about a certain company after interacting with it, the final product obtained by the customer is an integral and decisive part to establish this perception.
And the importance of product quality in the customer experience, is something that is not highlighted enough when talking about this subject.
In an era when competitiveness and innovation are critical success factors, when businesses design their customer journeys in detail, where each interaction with the customer is extensively analyzed, it’s important to ensure that the final product, which is effectively the objective of all surrounding processes, has the same or greater excellence than the whole process that involves it.
Just like Santini’s strawberry.