As a busy leader or business owner, you’re faced with a seemingly endless to-do list to keep your business operating, as well as an ever-increasing list of ideas about how to improve it. However, I suggest you throw out those hundred-plus to-do items and ideas and instead focus on the experience you deliver.

Start with these three fundamental steps:
1. Define the promise
2. Measure the gap
3. Share the stories

Before explaining the steps to improve the experience and transform your business, let’s clarify a couple of important elements.

First, the term experience. In this context, it means customer experience, employee experience, the experience that you promise, and ultimately, the experiences that you deliver. You can even make experience promises about your brand and products. But for now, focus on customer and employee experiences. You’ll quickly understand that the singular experience—the transaction—is just as important as the collective experience.

Finally, before we get to the three crucial steps, let’s be clear that customer and employee experience doesn’t mean hugging your haters. Nor does it mean surprising your customers and employees with champagne and caviar.

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