Recently, a friend of mine told me about a concept his wife (a sociology student) discussed in one of her classes. The discussion focused around experiences we have in everyday life and whether those experiences are nothing experiences or something experiences.

Nothing Experiences are those experiences that we can do without being present. For instance, we can go to McDonald’s order our food, wait for it, eat it and leave and never really feel engaged in the experience. It’s such a routine experience, that (at least for some) it becomes a nothing experience.

Something Experiences are those experiences that evoke our presence when we encounter them. There is something about the experience that calls us out of cruise control and into the present moment where the experience is happening. Artists, of all mediums, have a rare ability to create art that draw us into the moment.

The best organizations, whether profit or non-profit, big business or church, all look to create something experiences. The best organizations create products and services that call people out and into something better, something immediate and sustainable.

So, the next time your discussing your customer, or client base, ask yourself this question:

Do our customers or clients experience something experiences when they are in our presence?

Better yet, ask them.