It’s 19:32, and I’m standing in my kitchen waiting for the kettle to boil.
I hadn’t eaten all day.
That morning I’d been in hospital for a procedure. As part of the preparation, I hadn’t been allowed to eat any solid foods for 24 hours.
By now I was chomping at the bit.
In front of me sat a Chicken and Mushroom Pot Noodle.
As meals go, I could do better. But in that moment, it’s all I wanted.
The power of memory
I was 12.
I was meant to be at holiday camp, but I was ill and needed to stay home. As my mum was working full-time, my nan would step in to help.
In cases like these, she had two go-to remedies:
A can of soup.
A Pot Noodle.
Neither the most nutricious, but when you’re feeling down in the dumps, hot broth does wonders.
I can’t remember much about the day. It was probably spent watching day time TV. But I do remember being with my nan.
Feeling looked after. Feeling safe, and comforted.
And somewhere along the way, a Pot Noodle became attached to that feeling.
So even now, years later, when I’m ill, tired or in need of a bit of comfort, it’s one of the foods I crave.
Something we don't talk about enough in B2B is how you make people feel
Especially in professional services.
When you buy a Pot Noodle, you know what you're getting.
Noodles
A packet of sauce
Questionable nutritional value
There’s far more uncertainty when it comes to hiring an accountant.
You can look at their website, have an initial consultation and read every testimonial they have.
But you’re still buying expertise you often can’t fully assess before the work is delivered.
(Sometimes, you won’t even know whether the advice was good until much, much later!)
So we look for other signals.
Did I enjoy the experience?
Did I feel listened to?
Did I feel confident they knew what they were doing?
Did they make the situation feel manageable?
Could I trust them?
You can produce as many reports as you look. You can tell someone all the right things. You can complete the work exactly as promised.
But if the client spent three weeks wondering what was happening, chasing updates and worrying whether you'd understood them, the work won't feel as good as it should.
People are quick to forget what you did for them.
But they will certainly remember how you made them feel.
And that has consequences.
It’s the difference between them working with you again, or going somewhere else. Recommending you to their friends, or telling them not to bother.
An empty gourmet meal or a comforting Pot Noodle when I feel sick.
I know which one I’d choose.
