Given the intensity of adversity that the COVID-19 pandemic has caused, how much stronger have you become? After all, you've had to keep going, reimagine family and work interactions, learn how to stay safe against an invisible foe, and generally remain sane and calm despite a dire situation this world hasn't experienced since the 1918 Spanish Flu.

How do you go about creating unforgettable flooring experiences for your customers? Does it involve surrounding them with the right level of attention and professionalism to ensure they are delighted not just with their purchase, but also with how that product looks and functions once installed?

In this article, I'm borrowing from flooring industry guru, Tom Jennings, to bring you 11 tips to wholeheartedly embrace if you're serious about standing out in the marketplace. Whether you're in the flooring business or another, these tips are sure to make you more mindful of the interactions you have with your own customers.

I bet you love your customers. After all, without them you wouldn't be in business. How much time, though, do you spend thinking about the importance of customer experience in your business? Is it something you consider for your inbound marketing? Is it something everyone in your organization considers regularly?

I ask because customer delight (aka customer experience) plays an integral role in the inbound marketing methodology. 

Were you aware that bathrooms affect the retail experience? A clean bathroom encourages shoppers to linger and return whereas a lousy one repels them. And, depending on the business, the lousier the state of the bathroom, the more lethal the consequences.

How satisfied are your customers? Do you know or, do you simply assume that customer satisfaction with you is high? Does it surprise you to learn that true experts ask? 

Have you noticed references to #persuasion around you? I have and decided on tallying up several of these resources to become more attuned to persuasive content marketing.

Consider this a reference of sorts. You'll find below a recap of highlights from these 7 persuasion resources. I encourage you to visit them directly as each includes examples and visuals worth experiencing.

Is your customer experience driven to delight customers the Mercedes-Benz way? In other words, is every aspect of your organization built around your customers?

In Driven to Delight, author Joseph Michelli, PhD, CSP, describes the journey Mercedes-Benz USA took to transform the organization into one committed to delivering world-class service to all its customers. 

I recently caught up with Joseph to ask him about his latest book, Driven to Delight, which was released in December 2015.

Persuasion matters in business. How effective we are at it reflects how well we understand the needs of others and communicate that understanding. As marketing communications shift online, knowing how to create persuasive email marketing becomes critical for business success.

Nancy Harhut, whose insights inspired How To Write A Persuasive Email, is an award-winning marketing and advertising executive and persuasion expert. She knows firsthand the benefits of applying the science of human behavior to online marketing.

Nancy shares her expertise in this blog interview.