I’ve been at — and have consulted for — more than one company that wondered why their competitor seems to be winning all the new deals. Why all the praise seems to go their way. Rumor has it that they have really good customer service, but it’s really not that different from ours — is it?

To be honest, it may be difficult to see the forest through the trees, so you’ll have a tough time self-discovering if your customer service is up to snuff. But there is another way, and it won’t require hiring high-priced consultants or conducting surveys. But it might require a stop to a donut store or two…

While it might be next-to-impossible to assess your own organization, it is much easier to evaluate someone else’s. So my suggestion to you is to find another business — the more dissimilar to yours the better. In fact, the less you know about the business the better. For me, this meant going to a donut shop.

My youngest son plays t-ball, and after one of his games we decided to go to a donut store (Shipley’s Do-nuts on Brodie Lane) for a mini celebration. They were really busy, and parking was a bit of an issue. Once inside, the line was long, but moved at a good pace. We could see them making donuts through a glass window, which was good for the kids, but I was a little disappointed they didn’t carry my favorite type of donut (glazed chocolate cake). It was a little dirty, not a lot of table space, but overall, it wasn’t a terrible experience. But I began wondering if someone did it better. As it just so happens, there’s another donut shop directly across the street.

Parking was easier at the second donut shop (KC Donuts — I’d like to their site but there isn’t one). There was a line, but despite being shorter, moved slower. As it turned out, there was a lot of apologizing by the staff as people requested items that were sold out. This obviously slowed the line down as people had to find a new item. We didn’t see anyone making donuts — apparently this was done behind a closed door. Instead, people coming in the front door saw a sheet hanging over something … perhaps something under construction. There was no sign with an apology for the dust or explaination for the sheet. We couldn’t see the selection available, so we had to wait until we were up at the counter to order.

We did find that KC Donuts had a different selection (they did have my favorite donut, but there was only one left), and I opted for some items that I couldn’t get at the other shop: kolaches. While it turned out it was pretty cool to get something different, the kolache was doughy and the cheese was goopy (to be fair, apparently the sausage kolaches were very good, but they happened to be sold out of them while we were there).

The customer experience, as least for me, was significantly different. Even though KC Donuts has my favorite kind of donut, I was so unimpressed with the rest of the experience, I will probably not go back.

What do you gain from this experiement? You might see parallels on how your organization operates. Sure, you have have the one item your competition does not, but if you place enough barriers to accessing it, your prospects might give up, chosing to do business with your competitor instead. Use this as a way to evaluate similar experiences as new (or existing) customers come to do business with you. For example, how do you welcome your customers and prospect? Do they see the equivelant of a sheet over some construction?