Why Japan is the unbeaten master of Customer Experience.

I'm a huge fan of Japan. When I returned from living in the country of the rising sun, I found myself thinking everything in Germany was incredibly boring. How come? First, you got everything you need and more at your fingertips, anytime. Second, you find any kind of climate zone and landscape over there without driving far. Third, it is one of the safest and cleanest countries in the world. Fourth, people are unbelievably polite. And fifth, most importantly, they do Customer Experience like no one else.

Read the following article to figure out how to learn from the masters in selling real experiences.

There's no service like in Japan.

Generally whenever I am a customer, the thing that convinces me the most - apart from a product I really need - is good service. A funny moment was when I arrived in Japan and I realized I literally never experienced excellent service before. That was when I redefined what good service means to me. In Japan, people and places are open and accessible anytime. You never have the feeling of being unwanted. Whenever you enter a shop, even just a regular supermarket, you are greeted personally, but NEVER EVER you find anyone lurking around you. You always get smiles and people are honestly excited about your person. Bad quality doesn't exist. The service staff is quick. If they're not, it is because they are busy drawing cat comics on your pancake, coffee, shopping bag, etc.. In the unlikely event that something goes wrong, you get humble apologies right away.

They turn around your taste.

Before I came to Japan, I told everyone I'd never ever wear Mickey Mouse Tshirts or Hello Kitty's Ears. Later I found myself wearing Comic Jumpsuits and walking out of the country with bags full of stuffed animals. I hate stuffed animals.

What happened to me? Hello Kitty, other cute comics and action figures are everywhere. Already when standing in line at the airport a ""kawaii" comic figure is lighting up your waiting time. When sitting in the train a pink fluffy animal explains the safety instructions to you. They are haunting you, but they make you smile at the same time. Like this, these little things are manipulating your taste 24/7 and plant the idea into your brain that you can't live wihtout them anymore. They succeed.

They invented convenience.

Did you know that the japanese word for supermarket is "Kombini", a word that is derived from the english word "Convenience"? This happened for a reason. In Japan, at least in larger cities, you find a supermarket every 100 metres. On top of that, you find a soda machine every 50 metres. Like this, you never come to think "damnit, I still have to go to the supermarket". You never stay thirsty or hungry for longer than 2 minutes. This can only be outperformed by the japanese master invention of convenience: Toilets. You should google it.

Nothing is too much.

Japan has invented some of the weirdest and funniest things - just think about Cat Cafés or Karaoke. One reason for their innovative power is their adaptability and their hunger for new ideas. The barriers to accept new things are really low - and that is a major secret to success. Unfortunately some inventions still only exist in Japan and never leave the country because people over here would never wear something like this, no matter how practical it is:

They mean it.

When Japanese start something, they bring it to excellence. Japanese have invented many super efficient high quality industrial production methods. They are known for Kaizen, the philosophy of continuous change and improvement. Their drive for perfection becomes very clear if you look at the endless luminous advertisementsin Tokyo - everywhere you see lights blinking an jingles singing. They don't do things halfway. They never stop, they always double down.

Summing up

There can only be one summary to this article: If you haven't been to Japan, it's about time. Keep your eyes open and learn from the masters of customer experience. But careful, chances are you never want to leave!