In many ways, marketing is about WOW-ing your customer. You have to impress them enough to get them in the door, impress them once they’ve arrived and impress them again as they leave. Promotions work for the first and customer service for the second, but what about that last option? What can you do to ensure that your customer is impressed every time they leave your store?
Under-Promise
What do I mean? Well, probably the most famous example of this I can think of comes from the original Star Trek television series. Whenever the ship was having a problem and Captain Kirk had to call down to engineering, he’d always hear Mr. Scott explain to him all the reasons that he couldn’t have what he wanted in the time frame he wanted it. Invariably, Mr. Scott WOULD be able to perform the requested action and could do it in even less time than the captain required. Once this feat had been accomplished, Kirk would always say, “Mr. Scott, you’re a genius.”
That’s a little over the top for a successful business model, but the idea is sound. If you own a production business, regardless of what you’re producing, and a customer asks when you can have their product ready, give yourself a bit of lee time or under-promise. This isn’t just to make an impressive display of delivering before they expect, but it gives you the chance to deal with any unexpected problems that may arise. If there are no unexpected problems, your customer gets their product early and are thrilled with your swift turnaround time.
Over-Deliver
The baker’s dozen concept works off the same premise. Instead of twelve donuts, the customer would receive thirteen. Does that mean they paid for twelve? Well, they paid what the baker told them twelve would cost, but since the baker was fully aware he was going to provide thirteen, perhaps the price reflected as much. Similarly, when customer’s spend money in your store, you might offer a free gift. This wouldn’t be something you advertise, but rather something you offer to make each customer feel special.
It would be your own way of over-delivering. It wouldn’t have to be anything expensive, and certainly nothing that would eat into your profit. It would just be a little something to give your customer the sense that you appreciate their business.
These two simple practices are not new ideas. They are time-tested and proven successful. If you aren’t already, give these a try and see more smiles reflected in the exit window!
Leave a Reply