Happy New Year, Friends! And, 2026, I hope you’re ready for us… We are coming full-tilt for you!

In last month’s edition of The Monthly Mortar, I shared my preferred definition of “Experience,” as well the two fundamental elements I believe comprise the entirety of any Guest Experience. As a refresher, let me begin with these reminders:

Definition Experience (ik-speer-ee uhns) n. : all that is perceived, understood and remembered.

The Fundamental Elements of the Guest Experience – The ENVIRONMENT (we provide for our Guests, Customers, Clients, Visitors, etc.) – The INTERACTION (we have with our Guests, Customers, Clients, Visitors, etc.)

To be concise, all that can be “perceived, understood and remembered” (per our definition) in a service context is the experiential offspring from one or both of those all-powerful factors. It is that simple. And it is that hard. But most importantly as the endowed leaders of this industry, we must grasp the following relating to the Guest Experience: Our foremost role is to favorably impact the elements of consciousness (perception, understanding and memory) by strategically and thoughtfully stewarding the factors (environment and interaction) that enable the existence of any experience at all.

Please read that admitted mouthful again. Consider it carefully. For the broader explanation from December or to reconnect on this concept before going further, please use this link.

This month we must now get tactical. We have no other choice if we are serious about upgrading the Guest Experience. Because while there is no shortage of CX theory available for consumption and consideration, consumer satisfaction scores continue to plummet (Customer Experience Quality In The US Falls To An All-Time Low, Pete Jacques, June 2024). Even more dumbfounding (and incredibly dangerous!), 79% of service businesses lack a process to act even on the customer insights they already have (Forrester Research: The State of VoC and CX Measurement Practices, 2023). Whether as an industry leader or as a consumer, you can rest assured it is not a lack of curriculum that impedes or impales an improved experience. Instead, for many, domesticating the Guest Experience produces feelings of overwhelm that become a paralyzing condition. For others, it is wobbly-to-woeful implementation and incomplete or inconsistent execution that damns the smart and noble intent.

Experience by Committee: A Group Project Committed to Genuine Progress

Bishop Desmond Tutu was right about a lot of things. But the widely attributed adage from him that is especially applicable to the never-ending efforts with “Experience” is a sage parallel for the (even if unlikely) consumption of the planet’s heaviest land animal: “There is only one way to eat an elephant: one bite at a time.”

That’s the way it is with assessing and continuously improving the “Experience” in our organizations. Whether as a food truck operator with only a couple dozen square feet under temporary control or as the vice president of stadium operations for a National Football League team that permanently occupies a dozen city blocks, it is a massive task that can only be done successfully when sensibly cleaved into reasonable portions.

This awareness underscores the suggested approach. To make this dense responsibility more digestible, I recommend parsing the critical elements of Environment and Interaction into two distinct “Excellence in Experience” subcommittees. More descriptively, construct a task force of team members specifically assigned to evaluate and assess any conceivable element associated with “the Environment provided for your Guests.” Simultaneously, install colleagues in an identical role who are focused exclusively on all that is representative of “the Interaction had with your Guests.” These separate Interaction and Environment subcommittees should soon begin to document each item they believe could be enhanced or advanced. The documentation itself is not to be concerned with feasibility, cost, or complexity. Again, the purpose is to, simply, capture each instance where improvement might be pursued.

This tandem effort by the subcommittees produces a combined task list that is transitioned to leadership on an established basis. For the sake of the inherent optics and the identified opportunities, a leader’s consideration, response and action must be both prioritized and internally publicized. And, yes, it is unending work. By design and necessity, the roster of promising prospects is consistently updated. There are some fixes that are straightforward and can be completed within hours or days of the submission… and, of course, there are other items that require additional discussion, planning or budgeting. Items not associated with immediate action are deposited into an “Experience Holding Pen” to properly ensure future consideration. The eventual sum of “detainees” from these cadenced submissions are then addressed during the next round of fiscal and strategic-planning exercises. Budgetary approval or the commission of action with every item is neither necessary nor realistic. On the other hand, direct communication and genuine appreciation for each submission is essential to ensure continued organizational attention and enthusiasm for this exercise.

All Are Encouraged; None Are Excluded

Alongside the consistent presence of experiential improvements, the Excellence in Experience subcommittees produce a cultural benefit that has no rival conveying the importance and status of the Guest Experience in your organization. After all, only those who are legitimately concerned about such outcomes commit to this practice! Best of all, the cumulative list of suggested enhancements will metamorphose into a roster of accomplishments for both the committee members and the greater organization to celebrate.

Before we wrap this recommendation, please heed a word of caution… It is easy to hear this suggestion and quickly qualify or disqualify various members of your current team for either or both subcommittees. But I urge you not to be so hasty!

And here’s why: as leaders with a requirement to engage all our senses and be a relentless observer of all that transpires around us, we must also suggest the same for our teammates. All our teammates . . . For sure, this will be an easier assignment for some than others. At the same time, exposure to these concepts and their accompanying exercises will be beneficial to anyone involved. Meanwhile, this exercise is maximized when we have subcommittee members who are selected without bias and are legitimately diverse. In fact, it is through this very commitment that we are assured the output is intelligently reflective of all the people whom we intend to better serve and delight!

The Experience Committee should also be formed and organized to receive and rotate team members regularly. My experience suggests a 2-year term, with no more than half of the subcommittee members rolling off the committee each year. This length of service ensures the proper balance of veteran participation to uphold intent and procedure, while also making important room for a fresh perspective and an unvarnished lens for viewing both the (supposedly) bright and (potentially) dark spaces in the existing experience. It also acknowledges the likelihood of turnover and transition.

As always, thanks for tracking with me and for your meaningful contributions to an industry that matters much.  For more content on Matters of Experience and Environment & Interaction, check out chapter 4 in my book, It’s Not the Bricks, It’s the Mortar: Optimize Your Retail Business for Lasting Success. And until next month, build it strong, y’all!

This article was originally shared as a LinkedIn post. Join the conversation on LinkedIn.

Explore more insights in It’s Not the Bricks, It’s the Mortar.

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