When we’re serving customers we tend to front-load our effort. Hotel reception staff are well-versed in making a great impression when the guest checks in. Good waiters quickly seat new diners and take orders promptly. Retailers station greeters at the store entrance to welcome and orient new customers.

The same is also true for marketing. We expend a lot of effort to attract customers, committing a significant chunk of our resources to getting them through the door.

The trouble is that customers don’t rate the quality of their overall experience by what happens moment to moment, they judge it by what happened at its peak and at the end. This is why as business leaders and marketers we need to pay attention to the peak-end rule.

How you say goodbye is just, if not more important, as how you said hello.

Image by Stijn Nieuwendijk.