Are You Focused on the Sale or the 43 Invisible Moments That Build Trust?

Your customer just experienced your brand 47 times in a single transaction.

• •Portal login
• •Price lookup
• •Quote generation
• •Order entry
• •Confirmation email
• •Shipment tracking
• •Invoice delivery
• •Payment processing

Most distributors focus on four big moments: The sales pitch. The contract negotiation. The delivery confirmation. The relationship review.

But customers judge you on the 43 invisible touchpoints in between.

When those 43 moments tell conflicting stories, trust evaporates faster than you can rebuild it.

Every B2B distributor talks about partnership, reliability, and expertise.

But behind the scenes, a different story gets told:

• •An outdated ERP that makes simple orders feel like rocket science.
• •A black box pricing model that contradicts the "transparency" promise.
• •A service experience that shifts blame instead of solving problems.

The issue isn't your team. It's story incoherence and it's quietly eroding customer relationships.

The Story Coherence Index (SCI): A Simple Diagnostic Tool

Use the SCI to assess your customer experience. Rate each dimension from -10 to +10:

Experience Alignment (40%) Do all touchpoints, from order to invoice, feel like one cohesive brand?

• •(-10: Each interaction feels like a different company)
• •(+10: Seamless experience reinforcing your promise)

Pricing Logic (25%) Do prices and terms reinforce your positioning or contradict it?

• •(-10: Hidden fees, inconsistent discounting, unclear terms)
• •(+10: Transparent pricing aligned with your value story)

Support Consistency (25%) Do your service teams embody your values when things go wrong?

• •(-10: Blame-shifting, scripts, siloed ownership)
• •(+10: Proactive service that builds trust through issues)

Digital Coherence (10%) Do emails, PDFs, and portals feel unified?

• •(-10: Inconsistent tone, outdated design, clunky experience)
• •(+10: Consistent voice and identity across all digital touchpoints)

Grainger doesn't just win on scale or speed. They win because "Helping professionals get it done" shows up in every interaction.

You promised partnership. Could your customer be experiencing friction instead?

Perhaps, be honest and answer these 3 Qs:

• •Where do we say "easy" but require six clicks?
• •Where do we say "transparent" but bury fees?
• •Where do we say "partner" but act like a supplier?

The ultimate test: If we removed your logo, would customers still feel it was your brand?

Why This Matters Now

Story coherence is not a branding exercise. It's a retention strategy hiding in plain sight.

When teams reinforce the same promise, when customers can predict the experience, and when every touchpoint feels aligned - loyalty becomes inevitable. Churn becomes unthinkable.

Your Move

• •What's the biggest gap between what you say and what customers experience?
• •Which touchpoint is quietly breaking trust every day?

Let's fix the fractures before your biggest customer notices.