Wednesday
Jul252007
Create Raving Fans, Word of Mouth & Repeat Business...
From Jelly Beans…By Sonya Winterbotham
Ever heard the saying from jelly beans big things grow?
I may have tweaked an original saying you’re more familiar with… but jelly beans work.
Let me explain… The other day a new work colleague needed a mechanic and hit up staff for their referrals. Me? I didn’t just suggest mine; I fought off other contenders with a sterling argument about jelly beans.
My mechanic does something so small, so simple, but so memorable it’s made his business a success. After every service, every wheel alignment, every oil change… He places a little packet of jelly beans and a letter thanking you for your business on the passenger’s seat of your car.
Do I hear cries of “that’s ridiculous nobody goes back for jelly beans”? It’s not the jelly beans, it’s the significance of the gesture, what it tells you about the business and how it makes you feel even after you’ve forked out $180 on a service… That is what keeps you coming back.
At other mechanics you consider yourself lucky if you get a plastic rubbish bag hanging from your glove compartment… but it doesn’t quite attract the same response as this tiny packet of jelly beans. Its semantics plain and simple – What’s a plastic rubbish bag remind you of? The chore of cleaning your car. In contrast jelly beans are a bright, colourful treat, and whether you like them or not the surprise of this little package of sugary goodness makes you smile.
Now to be totally honest, jelly beans are just the tip of his marketing iceberg, because there’s one more thing my mechanic places on that passenger seat - a tiny little envelope with three business cards… Ahhhh… he understands the power of word of mouth, and in his unobtrusive manner he’s asking if you’re happy with his business to please refer him to your friends.
Jelly beans, a letter and a few business cards – the total cost wouldn’t add up to five bucks per customer… yet the business he’s received because of this little gesture would add up to thousands every year.
Too often we just think about today’s bottom line and how we can get the customers spending more now. But if you just let the jelly beans do their work they might end up branding your business better than you imagined.
I may have tweaked an original saying you’re more familiar with… but jelly beans work.
Let me explain… The other day a new work colleague needed a mechanic and hit up staff for their referrals. Me? I didn’t just suggest mine; I fought off other contenders with a sterling argument about jelly beans.
My mechanic does something so small, so simple, but so memorable it’s made his business a success. After every service, every wheel alignment, every oil change… He places a little packet of jelly beans and a letter thanking you for your business on the passenger’s seat of your car.
Do I hear cries of “that’s ridiculous nobody goes back for jelly beans”? It’s not the jelly beans, it’s the significance of the gesture, what it tells you about the business and how it makes you feel even after you’ve forked out $180 on a service… That is what keeps you coming back.
At other mechanics you consider yourself lucky if you get a plastic rubbish bag hanging from your glove compartment… but it doesn’t quite attract the same response as this tiny packet of jelly beans. Its semantics plain and simple – What’s a plastic rubbish bag remind you of? The chore of cleaning your car. In contrast jelly beans are a bright, colourful treat, and whether you like them or not the surprise of this little package of sugary goodness makes you smile.
Now to be totally honest, jelly beans are just the tip of his marketing iceberg, because there’s one more thing my mechanic places on that passenger seat - a tiny little envelope with three business cards… Ahhhh… he understands the power of word of mouth, and in his unobtrusive manner he’s asking if you’re happy with his business to please refer him to your friends.
Jelly beans, a letter and a few business cards – the total cost wouldn’t add up to five bucks per customer… yet the business he’s received because of this little gesture would add up to thousands every year.
Too often we just think about today’s bottom line and how we can get the customers spending more now. But if you just let the jelly beans do their work they might end up branding your business better than you imagined.
Find your magic beans and you’ll see that from little things, big things really can grow… how big is up to you.
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