By: Jeff Toister (submitted by Carmen Gass)

The prank was pure genius.

Two boys, each about 12 years old, stood on opposite sides of the road. As a car approached, the boys would pantomime picking up a rope and pulling it taught across the road.

This caused speeding cars to slow down as the drivers perceived they were about to run into whatever the boys had stretched across the road. They couldn’t see anything in front of them, but the boys’ actions told the drivers’ subconscious brains that some danger lurked ahead.

Of course, there was no rope. The drivers were reacting to their perception, not reality.

Customer service is often the same way. The experience is almost always amplified for good or bad by invisible ropes—things that alter your customer’s perception of reality.

This post will help you identify invisible ropes that might annoy your customers and ruin their experience. Read more here.