Is your small business secretly holding the upper hand? In this episode of Marginally Better, Joe Taylor, Jr. explores why the tiniest companies are winning big in a world of sky-high customer expectations. With 88% of consumers demanding Amazon-level convenience from every brand they encounter, the pressure is on—but small businesses might just be built for this moment. From punk rock accounting to handwritten thank-you notes, discover how lean teams are outpacing giants by delivering faster, simpler, and more human experiences. Plus, what Steve Jobs’ legendary “no” can teach you about growth, focus, and saying goodbye to feature bloat. If you’re looking to win on experience—not size—this episode is for you.
Episode Links:
- Frictionless Customer Experience: Why Now and What’s Next Journey-Centric Design
- The Cost of Poor CX: Why Businesses Must Rethink Customer Journeys to Survive 2025
- Can Small Businesses Excel as CX Champions?
- 10 Things to Know About Measuring and Improving CX for Brand Growth
- Key CX Metrics That Shape Customer Loyalty and Business Success
- Steve Jobs’ Greatest UX Rule That Most Designers Ignore
- Stop Building Features, Start Solving Problems
Transcript:
[00:00:00] Announcer: From the global headquarters of Johns and Taylor in beautiful New Jersey, it’s Marginally Better. Here’s your host, Joe Taylor, Jr.
[00:00:14] Joe Taylor, Jr.: On the show this week, 88% of customers now expect the same frictionless experience from every business they interact with, whether it’s a global tech giant or their neighborhood coffee shop.
[00:00:27] But here’s the twist, small businesses might actually have the advantage. We’ll explore why customers are abandoning brands faster than ever over minor inconveniences. How a one person consultancy can deliver better experiences than Fortune 500 companies. And why the most successful businesses are the ones brave enough to say no to new features.
[00:00:53] That’s all coming up after the break on Marginally Better.
[00:01:06] Welcome to Marginally Better, a show about business innovation and the American economy. I’m Joe Taylor, Jr.
[00:01:14] Picture this, you’re trying to book a doctor’s appointment. The website makes you create an account and then verify your email, and then fill out forms you’ve already completed. The last three times you were at the doctor’s office, and then the system crashes and you have to start over.
[00:01:33] Sound familiar? Here’s what’s happening. We’re living through what customer experience experts call the Great Friction Rebellion. Customers have tasted the convenience of one click ordering and same day delivery, and they’re not going back.
[00:01:51] According to new research published in CMS Wire, 88% of customers now expect every business to provide the same level of seamless experience they get from companies like Amazon or Apple. Not just prefer, expect. That includes your local dentist, your kids’ piano teacher, and yes, even the DMV. James Lovett writing for CMS Wire calls this the uberification of expectations. Just because ride sharing apps let you track your driver in real time doesn’t mean customers suddenly expect less from other services; they expect more from everyone.
[00:02:36] The data is stark. 73% of consumers say they’ll abandon a brand after just one bad experience.
[00:02:45] One, we’ve gone from a world where customer loyalty was measured in decades to one where it’s measured in seconds. The Nielsen Norman Group just released research that’s making CX professionals rethink everything. They found that most businesses still design for individual touchpoints. A good website here, a nice store experience there. While customers experience everything as one continuous journey.
[00:03:16] Kim Salazar from Nielsen. Norman calls it Journey Centric Design, and she uses a powerful example, planning a family trip to Hawaii. The journey doesn’t start when you board the plane. It starts months earlier with a Google search. It continues through booking, planning, experiencing, and it extends to sharing photos months after you return home. Here’s the kicker. Companies that get this right, see 54% higher customer retention rates. Those that don’t, they’re bleeding customers to competitors who understand that every interaction is connected.
[00:04:00] Daniel Newman writing on the Forbes Tech Council channel shares a sobering statistic; poor customer experience will cost businesses as much as $3.7 trillion globally by 2025. That’s trillion with a T.
[00:04:17] But here’s what’s fascinating. The problems aren’t usually catastrophic failures, they’re what Newman calls death by a thousand paper cuts. A password that’s too hard to reset, a checkout process with one too many steps, a customer service phone tree that makes people wanna scream. Newman highlights a revealing study – when companies simplified their online checkout from five steps to three, conversion rates jumped 35%. Two fewer clicks, millions more in revenue.
[00:04:54] But what really caught my attention in the research is how friction has become a trust issue. When a business makes you jump through hoops, customers don’t just think you are inefficient they think you don’t respect their time.
[00:05:09] One executive quoted in CMS Wire put it perfectly in 2025 customer time is the new currency. Every unnecessary step, every redundant form field, every minute on hold, you are literally stealing from your customers.
[00:05:28] The companies winning in this new economy aren’t necessarily the ones with the biggest budgets or the flashiest technology, they’re the ones who figured out how to remove friction from every interaction. They’re the ones who respect that their customer’s time is more valuable than their own processes. And here’s the thing; this isn’t just about big tech companies, your local bakery that remembers your usual order, the mechanic who texts you updates instead of making you call in, the dentist who actually runs on time – they’re all part of the friction revolution.
[00:06:04] In an economy where switching costs have never been lower and alternatives have never been more abundant the businesses that survive won’t be the ones with the most features or with the lowest prices – they’ll be the ones that make life easier for their customers one interaction at a time after the break.
[00:06:26] How small businesses are beating global brands with a little bit of punk rock inspiration. It’s Marginally Better.
[00:06:38] Joe Taylor Ad: You know what drives me crazy,
[00:06:40] beautiful websites that don’t actually work. I’m Joe Taylor, Jr. I see this all the time in my work at our user experience agency, Johns & Taylor. Here’s what I’ve learned. After more than 20 years of building websites. Most organizations approach this backwards. They jump straight into pretty mockups or use DIY site builders without understanding what their site actually needs to accomplish.
[00:07:04] That’s why my team and I start with strategy, not just aesthetics. We’ve cracked the code on building websites that are both beautiful and functional, and right now we’re offering complimentary website and user experience assessments for business podcast listeners. No sales pitch, just honest feedback about what’s working on your site and what isn’t.
[00:07:25] If you are tired of a website that looks good but doesn’t deliver results, visit makethewebsiteworkforme.com. Discover what your website could really accomplish. Makethewebsiteworkforme.com.
[00:07:44] Joe Taylor, Jr.: It is Marginally Better. I’m Joe Taylor, Jr.
[00:07:47] Let me tell you about Maria Rodriguez. She runs a one-woman accounting firm in Tucson, Arizona. And last year she beat out three major firms for a contract with a fast-growing tech startup. Not because she was cheaper, not because she had better credentials, but because she answered her phone. I know that sounds ridiculous, but stay with me. The startup’s founder, let’s call him Dev, had spent two weeks trying to get basic questions answered from the big firms. Email autoresponders, scheduling links for calls three weeks out, junior associates who couldn’t answer simple questions without checking with the team. And then Dev called Maria. She picked up on the second ring. “Hi, this is Maria. How can I help you?” 15 minutes later, she’d answered all his questions, outlined a plan, and scheduled a follow up for the next day, not the next month, the next day.
[00:08:48] This story documented in CXM Today’s Research on small business customer experience champions illustrates something profound in the age of automation and scale. Being small might actually be an advantage. Adrian Enscoe, author of Punk CX, puts it this way in his interview with CXM Today. Small businesses can outmaneuver larger competitors because they’re closer to their customers. They can make decisions faster, adapt quicker, and most importantly, they can be human.
[00:09:22] The numbers back this up. CX Network’s research on brand growth found that small businesses consistently outperform large corporations in key experience metrics. Why? Because when the business owner is often the one answering the phone, taking the order, or responding to the complaint, every interaction carries weight.
[00:09:45] But here’s where small businesses often stumble. They think customer experience measurement is something only big companies with big budgets can do. They picture expensive software, complex dashboards and teams of analysts. Sarah Thompson writing for CMS Wire explodes this myth. She highlights that the most powerful CX metrics for small businesses are often the simplest. How many customers come back? How many refer friends? How long did they stay with you? Thompson shares the story of a small fitness studio that discovered something fascinating. They’d been obsessing over their Net Promoter Score, sending surveys after every class. The response rates were terrible and the data wasn’t actionable, and then they tried something different. They just tracked who brought friends to class. Turns out 40% of their new members came from personal referrals. No surveys needed, and the behavior told the whole story.
[00:10:49] Here’s what really separates small business CX champions from everyone else – integration. When you’re small, you can’t afford silos. The person who takes the order might also pack it, deliver it, and follow up to make sure everything’s perfect.
[00:11:06] CXM Today profiles a small e-commerce business selling handmade jewelry. The owner, Patricia Chen, personally writes thank you notes with every order – not on printed cards, handwritten notes. She includes care instructions, styling tips, and sometimes even a piece of candy. Her repeat purchase rate, 67%. The industry average is 23.
[00:11:33] When a customer had an issue with a clasp breaking, Patricia didn’t just send a replacement; she overnight shipped it with an upgraded chain and a handwritten apology. That customer has since spent over $3,000 more with her business and refers everyone she knows. But perhaps the biggest advantage small businesses have is speed. CX Networks Research found that customer expectations for response time have compressed dramatically. In 2015, customers expected email responses within 24 hours. Today they expect responses within one hour. Large companies struggle with this. They’ve got layers of approval, complicated systems, scripts that must be followed. But Maria, from our opening story, she can make decisions instantly. She doesn’t need to check with legal or run it by corporate. She just solves problems.
[00:12:35] Of course, being small has its challenges. Tom Collinger from CXM today notes that small businesses often struggle with what he calls the growth paradox; the very things that make them special, personal service flexibility, owner involvement become harder to maintain as they grow.
[00:12:54] He shares the story of a beloved local restaurant that expanded from one location to five. Suddenly the owner couldn’t be at every location. The personal touch that made them special started to fade. Customer satisfaction plummeted. But here’s what’s interesting. The restaurants that successfully scaled didn’t try to replicate the owner’s presence instead they empowered their teams to act like owners. They gave them authority to comp meals, to go off script, to solve problems creatively. One surprising finding from that research, small businesses that try to compete with big companies on technology usually lose, but those that use technology to enhance their human advantage, they win big.
[00:13:47] CMS wire profiles a small bookstore competing with Amazon. They didn’t try to match Amazon’s selection or pricing. Instead, they created a simple text messaging system. Customers text what they’re looking for and within minutes a real human, usually the owner, responds with personalized recommendations. Sales are up 40% year over year. Not because they out teched Amazon, but because they out human them.
[00:14:18] Here’s the final piece that makes small business CX so powerful. Trust. CX Networks. Research found that 78% of consumers trust small businesses more than large corporations. They believe small businesses care more, try harder, and value their patronage. This trust creates what researchers call a forgiveness buffer. When a small business makes a mistake, customers are more likely to give them another chance. When a large corporation makes the same mistake, those customers are gone.
[00:14:54] Maria, our accountant from Tucson summed it up perfectly in her interview quote, “My clients know that when they call, they’re getting me; not a call center, not an AI, not someone reading from a script. Just me ready to help. In a world of automation and frustration, that’s become my biggest competitive advantage.”
[00:15:17] The lesson for small businesses is clear. Don’t try to be a smaller version of a big company. Be the best version of a small company. Your size isn’t a limitation. It’s your superpower. Use it wisely.
[00:15:35] After the break, three questions that you can use to delight your customers. That’s next on Marginally Better.
[00:15:47] Joe Taylor Ad: If you are a business owner, I need to tell you something that might sting. Your beautiful website is probably costing you thousands in lost revenue. The Nielsen Norman Group found that 76% of professional websites sites with million-dollar budgets perform mediocre to poor conversion. And if you built your site on Squarespace, Wix, or GoDaddy, your conversion rate is probably half of what it should be.
[00:16:14] Research shows the average business website can improve conversions by 35% or more just by fixing a few basic problems. I’m launching a new podcast called Website Reality Check, 10 episodes each one walking you through research backed fixes. You can implement yourself even on DIY platforms. Get free access to the first episode at websiterealitycheck.com.
[00:16:39] Stop leaving money on the table with websites that look great but don’t convert. That’s websiterealitycheck.com.
[00:16:53] Joe Taylor, Jr.: It is Marginally Better. I’m Joe Taylor, Jr.
[00:16:56] In 1997, Steve Jobs had just returned to Apple. The company was 90 days from bankruptcy, bleeding money, and had a product line so complicated that even Apple employees couldn’t explain it. There were dozens of computer models each with minor variations, creating what jobs called a confusing mess.
[00:17:17] At one product meeting, an engineer proudly presented a new feature for the upcoming Mac. It was clever, innovative, and it solved a problem some users had mentioned. The room waited for Jobs’ response. “Does it help a customer do something they desperately want to do?” Jobs asked. The engineer hesitated. “Well, some customers might find it useful…” “No,” Jobs interrupted, “We’re killing it.”
[00:17:45] This scene recounted in a brilliant Medium piece by designer Izaias captures something most companies have forgotten; the best feature you can add to your product might be the one you don’t add at all.
[00:18:00] We live in an age of feature creep. Every app wants to be a super app. Every product wants to do everything. Your meditation app now wants to track your sleep and monitor your exercise and somehow become your social network. Your note taking app aspires to also be your calendar and your task manager and your second brain and maybe your third brain. But here’s what’s fascinating, while companies are adding features at record pace, customer satisfaction is dropping.
[00:18:34] As James Moz writes in his medium analysis quote, “We’ve mistaken more for better, complex for sophisticated and features for value.” end quote. He shares a telling Example; Microsoft Word has over 1,500 features. The average user, they use about 20. So that means 98.7% of the product’s functionality is ignored by most people, yet every year more features get added. Why does this happen? Moz identifies what he calls the product manager’s dilemma. You’re tasked with improving the product and the easiest way to show improvement, add something new, a new button here, a new option there. Pretty soon you’ve created a monster. He tells the story of a startup that built a simple invoicing app and it did one thing brilliantly, create and send invoices. Customers loved it. And then the feature requests started rolling in. Could it also do expense tracking? What about time tracking inventory management? Two years later, the app did everything adequately and nothing excellently. Customer churn skyrocketed. New users were overwhelmed. The founders eventually sold the company for a fraction of what they’d been offered when it was simple.
[00:20:05] Remember when Instagram was just about sharing square photos? No stories, no reels, no shopping, no messaging, just photos. The constraints forced creativity. The simplicity made it accessible, and it grew to a billion users doing essentially one thing well. Today’s Instagram – it’s trying to be TikTok, YouTube, Facebook, and Snapchat all at one. And while it’s still successful, user sentiment has shifted. I just wanna see my friend’s photos has become a common refrain.
[00:20:40] So how do you avoid feature creep? Izaias shares Jobs’ as three question test that every new feature had to pass. One, does it help users do something they desperately want to do? Two, can we do it better than anyone else? Three, does it fit with the soul of our product? If the answer to any of these was no, the feature died. No committee meetings, no let’s test it and see. Just no. Now this led to famous decisions like removing the floppy drives from the iMac because who ended up needing them in the internet age, and later removing the headphone jack from the iPhone, which makes sense if you believe the future is wireless. Controversial, absolutely. But each decision pushed users toward a simpler, more focused future. The most powerful insight from both articles is this: Saying no requires more courage than saying yes. It’s easy to add a feature, it’s hard to protect simplicity.
[00:21:51] Consider In and Out Burger. while every other fast-food chain has breakfast menus, chicken sandwiches, salads, and seasonal specialties, In and Out has stubbornly maintained essentially the same menu since 1948. Burgers, fries, shakes, that’s it. When asked why they don’t add chicken or fish, the company’s president once said, “we do one thing and we do it better than anyone else.” Results. They have cult-like customer loyalty lines around the block and revenues per location that dwarf their more innovative competitors. And I can tell you from personal experience, the first thing I do whenever I touch down in California is head to an In and Out. By saying no to menu expansion, they’ve said yes to quality, consistency, and simplicity.
[00:22:46] Here’s where this connects back to our earlier discussion about small businesses. When you are small, you can’t do everything. You don’t have the resources. This constraint, which feels like a disadvantage, might be your greatest asset. That accounting firm we talked about, Maria does not try to be PWC. She does small business taxes, period. Not corporate restructuring, not international tax law, not cryptocurrency, just small business taxes. And she’s booked solid.
[00:23:20] So here’s my challenge to you; Look at your business, your product, your service offering – What could you remove? What features are you maintaining that less than 20% of your customers use? What services are you offering because a few people ask, not. Because it’s core to who you are? Now, channel your inner Steve Jobs and be ruthless, kill features, simplify offerings. Focus relentlessly on what matters most to most of your customers. Because in a world where everyone’s trying to do everything, the businesses that thrive will be the ones brave enough to do just a few things extraordinarily well. As jobs said in that 1997 meeting, quote. “I’m actually as proud of the things we haven’t done as the things we have done. Innovation is saying no to a thousand things.” end quote.
[00:24:18] So what will you say no to today?
[00:24:23] Thanks for listening to Marginally Better. If you’d like what you heard, please help us out. Leave a quick review on Apple Podcasts. It will help us spread the word about the show to people just like you, who care deeply about great customer experiences.
[00:24:37] If you want to get behind the scenes notes from me and the rest of the team, plus links to all of the articles that I’ve mentioned this episode, go to marginallybettershow.com or follow the link in our show notes.
[00:24:51] Marginally Better is a Calufrax radio production. Our producer is Nicole Hubbard with research by Connie Evans.
[00:24:58] I’m Joe Taylor, Jr.
Joe Taylor Jr.
After a decade in broadcast media, Joe developed early online platforms for NPR, PBS, and AOL. Today, he helps our clients tell compelling brand stories through audio, visuals, and software.