This weekend I took a stroll down memory lane at a fantastic Styx and Foreigner Soundtrack of Summer concert. Needless to say the music was fantastic – my favorite moment was listening to Styx play “Come Sail Away”. If you don’t know that song, it was a huge hit from their Grand Illusion album in the 70s. (STOP with the age calculations this minute!!)
What was interesting to me from a business and customer service standpoint was the many ways the audience was involved in the concert. Musicians today are keenly aware of how important it is to personalize the audience (customer) experience. The concert was held in Texas. Before getting into their many oldies but goodies, they sang “Deep in the Heart of Texas”. The crowd went wild. Later in the show, Tommy Shaw of Styx went out into the audience weaving in and out of various rows while singing, happily posing for many excited fans snapping hundreds of photos. I am quite sure he was aware that these photos were being instantly transmitted to Facebook and Instagram creating free publicity and advertising for the tour.
I hope this has got you thinking. How can I personalize the customer experience in my business? How can I make the customer the star of every encounter in such a way that it encourages them to immediately share the experience with hundreds of friends and associates with whom they are connected on the many channels of social media?
One more observation I will share with you. The concert was held at the Verizon Theater. Prior to the concert I noticed that Verizon had a booth staffed with several representatives. My immediate conclusion was that Verizon was pitching their cell service to attendees. Then I saw their reps taking pictures of attendees in front of a big backdrop that looked like fans and paparazzi taking photos. Assumption number two popped in my head. They must be taking photos and selling them for $15 or $20. Imagine the surprise when concert goers found out they were taking the pictures and printing out as many copies as were wanted FREE. They also offered to email the photos and to help attendees post them on Facebook. All this was done with NO mention of their cell service.
I took away some cute pics with my husband and friends but also took away another customer service lesson. Do things for customers and potential customers without expecting anything in return. The impact will be far greater. They WILL remember your name and your goodwill gesture and might even mention your business in a blog post read by thousands!
