When most companies think about growth, they focus on sales, marketing, or product development. But the most powerful differentiator today is your customer experience strategy.
Recently, I sat down with Jessica Baxter, former Head of Business Development at Blue Plate Catering, to see how a Chicago company that’s been around for more than 40 years continues to stand out. Blue Plate has been serving Chicago for decades, but longevity alone isn’t the reason for their success. Jessica emphasized that the company focuses on experiences, not just meals. The answer? By turning food into a full-blown experience.
Here’s how our conversation unfolded:
Dan: Obviously, you have delicious food, but how do you think about the experience part of your business?
Jessica: We’re trying to get as personalized as we can and give people something they’re not used to. Today what we’re featuring is mystery. People are asking about different flavors and really what they are tasting. It’s interactive; that’s part of how we want to do something different.
Then came the highlight: the mystery bonbons.
Dan: These just aren’t any bonbons. Look at these things, they are absolutely gorgeous. Let’s talk about the mystery flavors.
Jessica: One of the flavors is espresso martini, but don’t be fooled, it’s not the one that looks brownish-gold. We’re trying to trick you!
This playful twist is turning dessert into a guessing game as it shows how experience can transform even the smallest detail into a memory that lasts. Flavors ranged from caramel latte to margarita.
Dan: All right, here we go. I think this is white chocolate basil. How did I do?
Jessica: Amazing!
A simple exchange became a powerful lesson: when businesses design with interaction and surprise in mind, they create lasting impact.
Why Customer Experience Strategy Matters More Than Ever
This wasn’t just a food tasting, it was a customer experience strategy example in action.
Blue Plate Catering created:
- Anticipation: Guests wondered which flavor they’d get.
- Immersion: Tasting became an interactive guessing game.
- Memorability: The playful twist made it shareable and remarkable.
As I share in my book, Becoming The Experience Maker:
“There’s no longer such a thing as an ‘offline’ experience because every experience, no matter where it occurs, can be captured on the smartphone in your pocket and shared with the world in an instant.”
The truth is, average experiences don’t get shared. Customers only talk about great experiences or terrible ones. If your company wants to build loyalty, drive referrals, and stand out in your industry, you must focus on creating remarkable customer experiences – literally, worthy of remark.
Related: Everyone in the Restaurant Shapes the Guest Experience — Here’s How
The WISER Framework
What Jessica and her team designed fits beautifully into the WISER framework I teach in keynotes and workshops:
- Witty – Playful twists (like hidden flavors) make customers smile.
- Immersive – Guests don’t just consume; they participate.
- Shareable – Mystery bonbons are beautifully Instagram-worthy.
- Extraordinary – The experience is anything but ordinary.
- Responsive – Staff engage directly with curiosity and fun.
This framework is the foundation of an effective customer experience strategy that works in any industry.
How to Build a Customer Experience Strategy in Your Business
You may not run a catering company, but the principles apply everywhere. To implement a customer experience strategy in your organization:
- Add interactive elements to your product or service.
- Create moments of surprise that customers can’t wait to talk about.
- Make it easy and natural to share the experience online.
As Iron Chef Stephanie Izard once told me: success in the restaurant business is 50% food, 50% experience. That lesson applies everywhere from B2C companies looking to boost loyalty to B2B firms aiming to reduce churn.
Make Customer Experience Your Biggest Differentiator
If you want to win in today’s marketplace, you can’t just compete on price or product, because those can always be matched. The real differentiator is your customer experience strategy – something competitors can’t copy.
So, ask yourself:
- What small twist could you add that makes your offering remarkable?
- How can you create anticipation and participation for your customers?
- What stories will your customers tell after interacting with your brand?
Because in the end, it’s not the bonbon itself people remember; it’s the experience of discovering it.
And that’s how you become an Experience Maker™.
