Chatting Marketing Lagniappe with Barry Moltz
I had the opportunity to be interviewed yesterday on Barry Moltz’s weekly radio show, “Business Insanity Talk Radio“.
Click above to listen
Barry and I share a passion for customer experience. He recently published a book entitled, BAM Delivering Customer Service in a Self Service World.
We discuss the following in the interview:
- The Biggest Myth in Marketing
- What is Marketing Lagniappe
- How lagniappe is more than the Baker’s Dozen
- An example from Southwest Airlines
- The Purple Goldfish Project
Today’s Lagniappe (a little something extra) – Barry shared a story about the Peninsula Hotel during our interview. Here is the full background from his post on BAMgoodservice.com:
“On my trip last week, we checked into The Peninsula in New York City. When you check into this type of hotel, you have 5 star high expectations for customer service. I was not disappointed!
As soon as we checked in, they told us that we had been “upgraded to a larger room.” I just love that phrase.
Now, I have never stayed at this hotel and I do not know what the rooms look like, but I was delighted anyways. Furthermore, I really have no idea whether we were actually upgraded to a better room or not, but it did not matter. They said we were, so I wanted to believe them. I wanted to be excited about our stay at the hotel. It put me in a good place.
We had the concierge at the Peninsula make reservations at a restaurant down the street for us. When we arrived, they sat us promptly. At the end of the meal, a dessert wine and cake were served to us. When we said that we did not order dessert, the waiter said,“It was sent over by the concierge at the hotel!”
Brilliant. Again, whether it was really sent over by the concierge is not really the issue. The restaurant gave us something extra to ensure a great customer experience and preserve a solid relationship with the concierge at the hotel who probably sends them hundreds of people! What did it cost the restaurant? A slice of cake and a few glasses of wine. What did they gain? At least one blog post and a continued stream of customers from the hotel.
When you give the customer something extra they did not pay for, they will be delighted. Trust me on this or ask your customer when you upgrade them!
How do you give that is extra thing to your clients? How do you make them feel like they are getting a bonus (and paying no more?)”
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.
