Originally published by Colin Shaw on LinkedIn: Why Dreaming Big Isn’t Enough

I was shopping for a graduation card the other day, and all of them seemed to say something like this: “Dream big and reach for the stars, your goals are within reach and you are on your way to an amazing future.”

If I was just getting out of school I would find this rather terrifying. I think I’d much prefer a hearty “Congratulations – well done!” instead of a bunch of vaguely inspirational words reminding me how far I had yet to go.

But I see the same thing in the businesses we help at our customer experience consultancy. Companies like to articulate lofty “reach for the stars and exceed everyone’s wildest expectations” aspirations, but for the most part they don’t do a very good job of translating these goals into achievable milestones. Mission statements and aspirations are great, but standing alone, they don’t inspire employees or lead to concrete actions that improve the customer experience.

For example, I often hear some version of this: “We really want to “wow’ our customers.” Ok, that’s great, but what does “wow” even mean? Is being “wowed” different from being pleased, or is it more of an unpleasant surprise? As in “Wow, I never thought I’d have to wait an hour for my meal to arrive.” And how do you know when you’ve achieved “Wow?”

Vague goals like “wow” are close cousins of impossible ones, like “we’re going to give every single customer an exceptional experience.” Sorry, it can’t be done. You can’t give everyone a great experience, every day, all the time, no matter what you do.

When senior management comes up with these lofty mission statements, they mean well. They mean to be inspiring and aspirational. But what really happens in the ranks of employees is quite the opposite. Either the employees immediately recognize the “goal” as a meaningless mission statement that they feel no particular desire to follow through on, or they try to “wow” everyone and fail, leading to poor morale and a perception that they’ve failed.

The answer to this dilemma is to pair aspirational goals with concrete actions that will bring you closer to reaching them. At Beyond Philosophy, we call this a Customer Experience Strategy. Think about your customers and what they really want and need. Then, find out which aspects drive most value for your company. Identify a couple of steps you can take to improve their experience with your company then follow through.

Ask Your Employees

If you don’t know how to improve your “wow” factor, or whatever else you aspire to in your mission statement, talk to the employees who deal with customers every day. What problems do customers encounter? Do your employees think your company can deliver a better experience? What do they think it would take to get there? Your front-line employees are the ones who will implement your strategy – make sure they think it’s a good idea and are willing to do what it takes.