You have flaws.

We all do.

Stuff you can’t do anything about.

But makes you cringe. Or stops you from being yourself in a lot of situations.

I used to stutter. It sucked.

I overcame it with a lot of mental programming (and loosening up with alcohol at parties), and I used to see that as a flaw.

A defect.

Your business has flaws, too.

Stuff that, for how hard you try not to think about it, will always be there lurking in your back-burner.

Because that’s make or break right?

Your prospects will see you and your business for what you are!

They will expose you.

And walk away, their money still in their pocket.

Well, let me save you from your pain. Yesterday I’ve got a revelation.

I’m in Lisbon for a couple of days and I’ve got the rare chance of experiencing supreme customer service.

I’m speaking about my Airbnb.

The apartment is huge for one person. There’s a terrace that’s probably the size of a basketball court.

It’s really nice and at walking distance from anything I’d like to do in town.

But… a couple of things plague this apartment.

The building is very old. The walls and windows are paper thin and you can hear almost everybody living here.

Hell, you could hear them farting.

This is not so good. Other issue?

The bathroom smells like sewers.

And you constantly have to keep the fan going to minimize the dreaded smell. Which makes the whole situation even noisier.

So you’d think I’d give this place a 2 start rating.

But I won’t.

The reason?

Customer service. And curation.

What I didn’t tell you is that this was probably the best host I’ve had, ever in my Airbnb experience.

Before the trip she sent me a 10 page long guide with links and things to do in the city. She provided an illustrated and annotated guide to the self check-in process.

She prepared local wine, cheese, crackers, coffee, tea and more, for free.

She’s reachable by a thousand messaging apps, anytime I need her.

And… I knew about all of this before I even got here.

She gave me the context, the brief, all the info I needed so that I could be prepared.

She openly mentioned the noise and the smelly bathroom.

I went into it, knowing all of it.

So that I wouldn’t rate the place 2 stars.

I won’t, I’ll probably rate it 5 stars.

All because the entire experience was frame for me beforehand.

This is what I call good UX.

It’s a lot about transparency and honesty, too.

Nothing you can’t do.

But if you want to learn how I plan this for my clients, let’s talk.