A light bulb in our hall died a while ago and it has taken me ages to unscrew it. To my defense, this is not your normal light bulb and the procedure involved a variety of tools, a ladder, few missteps and a couple of moments of fear. You tend to become a bit of a chicken as you get older.

So today we were shopping for a replacement. Not the best day in year to do so, but since we were already out and near the store, it just made sense to fetch it. Experience has certainly been educational.

We visited a store close to our home near the center of Ljubljana, which has been hit hard by newer stores that opened in suburbs. Easier parking, bigger choice and at least competitive if not cheaper prices do that to you and it’s doubtful, if you can survive something like this in the long run. It seems to me the only possible competitive advantage left is having a superior customer experience.

However it’s hard to imagine that this would mean getting a shop assistant to print out a receipt that you need to carry to the only cash register in the store where you’re served by an unbelievably rude clerk who loudly lets everyone know that she’ll be gone in ten minutes if there’s her replacement or not.

I can’t see myself going back again. But I was reminded of a problem observed many times before. Company problems lead to demoralized workers, which lead to work done poorly and that to even more problems for the company. It’s a vicious self-destructing cycle that is not easy to break and just as hard times can’t be completely avoided.

But you’ll be gone if your customers suffer too much and it’s absolutely amazing that so often they still don’t get much more than a lip service. It’s about meeting their needs and nothing else. Good customer experience is the cheapest advertisement there is. It’s also the most effective one.

Now I only need to replace the light bulb.