#682 in the Project was taken from a post by Lori Jo Vest, author of ‘Who’s Your Gladys?‘. In Lori’s words:
“I was in a big fat hurry, driving to one of our major U.S. automakers to meet with a client. I was running a few minutes late and had only gone a few blocks when I realized I had no wiper fluid. It was a beautiful sunny day, though the temperature was frigid, with roads that were sloppy wet from the snow the night before. My line of sight was blocked by a white haze of road salt. I wasn’t going to make it without stopping for wiper fluid.
I pulled into the gas station, hoping I had a pair of gloves in my pocket. As I got out of my car, a jovial young man in a puffy down coat was cleaning the windshield of the car next to mine. “Hello,” he called out with a big smile. “Can I clean your windows, too? It’s customer appreciation day!”
I laughed and played along. “So, since it’s customer appreciation day, could I sweet talk you into filling my wiper fluid, too? If I buy the fluid?”
“Sure!” he answered. “No problem!”
Wonderful! Now it didn’t matter if I’d remembered my gloves. I went inside and made my purchase. The employee filled up the resevoir and I was on my way in just a few minutes.
This young man’s obvious enthusiasm for customer appreciation made my 5-minute stop for fuel more fun, more convenient and much more satisfying.
While this station is on one of my frequently-traveled routes, I’d not stopped there before. Though after this random act of customer appreciation, I know I’ll be stopping there again.
Ever notice how small things can make a huge difference? This young man’s obvious enthusiasm for customer appreciation made my 5-minute stop for fuel more fun, more convenient and much more satisfying than a typical gas station run.
What do you think? What would happen if you scheduled a monthly “customer appreciation day” that encouraged all of your staff to perform random acts of appreciation all day?
Marketing Lagniappe Takeaway – make ‘customer appreciation day’ an everyday thing. Empower your employees to deliver little ‘branded acts of kindness’.
Today’s Lagniappe (a little something extra) – Here is the backstory on Gladys of ‘Who’s Your Gladys?’
Lagniappe defined: A marketing lagniappe, i.e. purple goldfish, is any time a business goes above and beyond to provide a ‘little something extra’. It’s that unexpected surprise that’s thrown in for good measure.
How do you stand out in the sea of sameness? How do you win repeat customers and influence word of mouth? Are you Giving Little Unexpected Extras?
What’s Your GLUE?
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You should have a customer appreciation marketing program triggered by specific events. Follow-up, holiday, birthday, anniversary, time for next purchase, etc. Its 5x cheaper to keep a customer than it is to find a new one.