Camille Estimé identifies three key stages of the customer experience that are often overlooked. She identifies the three steps that build energy, engagement, and ultimately yield returns in brand advocacy.
In 2023, Beyoncé posted a note on her website: a birthday wish for fans attending her remaining Renaissance shows to wear “their most fabulous silver fashions.”¹
The response was massive. Etsy reported a 25% spike in searches for disco hats and silver tops within the next week. Sellers fielded panicked messages with offers to pay extra for overnight shipping. Small-business owners selling silver hand fans, bedazzled cowboy hats, and crystal sunglasses watched their inventory eagerly snatched up.²
In the weeks before the shows, fans patrolled Pinterest for inspiration, sourced materials for DIY outfits, and finalized their head-to-toe looks. By the time fans walked into the stadium, their Renaissance tour experience had already been going on for weeks, and Beyoncé’s team barely had to lift a finger. She’d simply inspired fans to do something exciting with the wait.
When businesses think about their customers’ experience, they tend to picture the part where the customer is right in front of them: the visit, the purchase, the appointment, or the event. This participation phase is what nearly every business pours all of their effort into.
But participation is only one of three phases. The others get almost no energy and intentionality, even though they play a powerful role in shaping customers’ overall satisfaction, loyalty, and eventual brand advocacy… or lack thereof.
The Three Phases of Every Experience
In their book Designing Experiences, Mathew Duerden and Robert Rossman break the full arc of an experience into:³
Anticipation: the period between when a person learns about the experience (and hopefully starts looking forward to it) up until it actually begins.
Participation: the main course, in which the person most actively engages with the product, service, or event.
Reflection: what happens afterward, when the experience gets remembered, replayed, and retold.
Read the article, Wield Anticipation Like the Pros, on LinkedIn.