An everyday personal example about the importance of details in brand experience

This time, it’s about hair stylists.
And the detail in question is fundamental — it’s not just a nice-to-have.

This example will help you observe, from a personal perspective, what impacts you and provides the most value in your interaction with the products and services you use.

It also gives you insight into how crucial certain details can be for your own brand and how optimizing them can make a difference.

In this case, you can see how sometimes a customer’s relationship with a brand can be influenced by something seemingly trivial.

As entrepreneurs, it’s essential to map out all brand signals (different types of brand touchpoints) based on their importance.

Often, simply improving a few brand signals — or even just one — can significantly boost business growth.

Now, let’s move on to the example.

It’s a simple one.

Complexity will always vary depending on the market and business context. But I chose this example to give you a clear idea.

I’m in the role of the customer, and this is a real experience.

It’s about a barbershop/hair styling business.

Where the brand signals include the following (depending on the specific relationship the client has with the brand):

• The location of the barbershop (proximity, interior design, and atmosphere).

• How the barber communicates with you.

• Parking availability.

• Price.

• The barber’s skill level.

• Whether the barber suggests new hairstyles or not.

• The appointment booking process (whether it’s fast and easy or complicated).

• The payment process (card payment availability, cash-only policy, or whether they have change).

In the past few years, I’ve been to two different barbers.
For my type of customer profile, they were similar in satisfaction across most brand signals.

However, I was dissatisfied with one key aspect — the appointment process — it became a hassle.

That’s how I ended up switching to a third barber.
He stood out by solving that specific issue — speed and simplicity in booking appointments.

For me, since this is a transactional relationship (I just need a simple haircut — clippers on the sides and back), this small detail made all the difference.

Excerpt from my upcoming eBook on strategic branding and employer branding for entrepreneurs.

#brands #branding #customerexperience #marketing #retention