The magic of experiences instead of stuff…
We’re doing it. Spring Break is next week and we’re taking the boys out of town for the week. Washington, D.C., USA. To be honest, we were in the mood for a warm, beachy vacation, but we asked our guys where they wanted to go and…well…there you have it.
I’m pretty excited because we have some fun things planned, we’re catching up with some close friends that are more like family, and we get to all geek out on cool American history stuff.
It’s been a while
Naturally, the trip made me think of the time we went there on a family trip when I was maybe 12 or 13. My oldest sister was recently married so I think this was the first family trip we took without her. It was just my parents and my other older sister.
We show up to our hotel and it was a dump. I don’t think we minded all that much but Dad went ape-shit so we didn’t even unpack. He was immediately on the case to get us a new place. In our room, he pulled out the Yellow Pages (remember those?) and tried to look up hotels, but you guys…ALL the pages listing other hotels were ripped out. Yeah…for real. They went out of their way to RIP OUT the pages listing other hotels so people couldn’t call other places.
Remember, this was long before everyone had a computer in their pocket.
He made some calls and I kind of recall seeing steam actually come out of his ears. Finally, we checked out and went to our new hotel.
Holy shit this place was amazing. So amazing that when writing the previous sentence just now, “place” accidentally came out as “palace” and I almost just left it like that.
It was everything
It was one of those places that was a hotel attached to a kickass shopping mall. Those are a dime a dozen now, but back then it was new and incredible. We saw a lot of amazing stuff that trip — all the cool DC things — but my sister and I still talk about that hotel/mall and our experience there.
One store in particular stands out for all of us. In the mall, there was a magic store full of every magic trick you could think of, as well as all the others you couldn’t. My dad loved magic and, well, so did/do I. He and I hit that store twice a day every day of the week and those visits were honestly my favorite parts of the trip.
Be what you make
The guy who worked there got to know us pretty well after the second day. This guy was what he did. I used to work at a local Guitar Center and had some people ask me to play before they did business with me. I soon learned that it was because they wanted to make sure I wasn’t a poser. When they saw that I could play, they were more comfortable with my thoughts and opinions about things.
The salesman at the magic store was on point with all the tricks. He knew how to sell a trick, and then literally sell you the trick to take home.
Dad and I were in there a lot that trip and he knew our names, knew what magic tricks we’ve already seen, and even waited for us one night after closing time just because he knew we were going to stop by on our way up to our room.
Incredible.
This guy never once tried to sell stuff to us, he was just content in providing us with a fun, engaging experience. He knew we’d be back and he knew it was because of him.
People > things
On our last night in DC, we went in to say goodbye and thanks. Then, my dad bought up all the magic tricks he showed us throughout the week. Every single one. We still have all of them to this day.
This guy knew how to create an experience, so he wouldn’t have to sell a damn thing. We knew he wasn’t a poser, and his passion for magic was contagious. His love for it made us love it even more than we already did.
I’m sure my dad would have preferred that my sister and I like the sites the best, but he knew there was no competing with what this guy at the magic store was doing for us every day. He made magic approachable without removing any of the mystique that inherently surrounds it.
Each experience was different but with one common similarity: the sole purpose was to connect with us emotionally and create wonder.
I’m happy to be reminiscing about that trip, that store, and the experience that the salesman was able to create for us. It was a timely reminder that in business — and other things — people tend to connect with other people, not things.
If you make things, ok. But if you are able to create an experience that enriches and respects how people perceive what you’re doing, then you’re playing the long game. I don’t remember every magic trick we bought, but I do remember the experience.
#bewhatyoumake
