(This is guest post contributed by Yolanda A. Facio who writes about marketing at MarketingUnhinged.com. Follow her on twitter @yolandafacio.)

Are You Giving Your Customer Something To Talk About?

It’s spa day, I’m jazzed. I’ve been waiting all week for this! Time to relax, unwind. Just mellow out! I pull up the spa’s website one more time; the pictures look great, so peaceful. And now I’m thinking I might need to get one of those cucumber things…

It’s 10: am, I’m on time. I pull open the big glass door and pull off my sunglasses… and blink. And, then I blink again. It’s awfully bright in here… Hmmmm. I walk up to the counter but no one’s around. The phone is ringing and ringing. So, I figure I’ll just wander around a little. There are knick-knacks here and there on the shelves; candles, lotions, oils. I lean over to take a closer look at the soaps and notice that the packages look dusty, hmmmmmm. Well, maybe they don’t sell a lot of stuff.

Finally, someone walks up to the counter; she looks busy – frazzled almost. She grabs the phone but doesn’t see me. Of course, I’m standing right in front of her, which is how I notice the jet black hair with one purple streak running through it. I’m having a hard time looking away… She’s talking really fast on the phone and I’m starting to break out in a bit of a sweat… and I’m starting to feel my blood pressure spike, just a little….

The Customer Slide Show

Your marketing creates preconceived ideas, a slide show, in your potential client’s mind about what doing business with you will be like.

The design of the marketing pieces you use, the tone, the words, all of it create an impression. The person who answers the phone is part of it. The recording a person receives if the phone isn’t answered is part of it.

The slide show your potential customer creates is an image of the expectations they have about doing business with you. Your job is to make sure that all the bits and pieces, the slides, fit together so that the client’s actual experience matches his expectation.

If slides are out of place or don’t reflect the marketing you’ve put out then the customer is let down. Sometimes it’s small and sometimes it’s big enough to lose a sale.

The good part is that you control the slide show.

Make The Experience As Good As The Slide Show

Now, here’s the thing, sometimes those out of place slides are things your customer doesn’t even realize. And that is why you must be diligent about consistency in the presentation of your business.

If you offer blue pineapple, it better not be green when the customer shows up because then there’s a disconnect.

It never ceases to amaze me how car dealerships miss this point. They put an advertisement in the newspaper for a new Red Lexus and it has a great price listed. The consumer shows up with the newspaper and say’s, “I saw this ad (he points to it in his paper) and I want to buy a Red Lexus, it’s a great deal.” And the poor sales guy says, “Well, we sold that Red Lexus but I have another Red Lexus over here, the wheels are a little different and the price is different but it is essentially the same car!” So now the consumer wants to know, “Well why is this one more expensive?” And the car salesman, “Well we only had ONE of those Red Lexus cars, but this one here is great.”

I’m sure you can see the problem. Consumer has his slide show created. It includes a slide of the Red Lexus and him holding the keys. Then there’s the slide where he’s showing all his pals how much money he saved. Except, wait, the dealership trashed that slide.

The best part is the part where the dealership doesn’t think it’s an issue. After all they have all these OTHER Red Lexus cars…..

Do you think the consumer will be happy? Do you think he’ll come back?

I probably wouldn’t and neither would you. Why risk giving your customers the same kind of experience? And worse yet, now the consumer has a new slide show in his brain about doing business with the dealership and it includes a slide of him telling all his friends about his experience.

Creating an exceptional experience for your customers, one that matches the slide show they have in their minds is a win-win. And, most importantly, it has little to do with the product or service you sell. If you can successfully satisfy the customer’s expectations, then when they finally do get home with their purchase, they speak less about it and more about you.

Experiences matter. They are the most memorable part of the sales process. People will remember how they felt when they made the purchase not just the purchase itself.

The take-away: Give the customer an experience they won’t forget!

About the Author: Yolanda A. Facio writes about marketing at MarketingUnhinged.com. Follow her on twitter @yolandafacio.

(Photo Credit: Dirk Herrmann)

Tweet This Post!

Last week’s Mad Men inspired my second Marketing Minute vlog. I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments section below.

Tweet This Post!

*

If you enjoyed this post, consider signing up for free updates via email or RSS. Otherwise, I hope you share it on digg, StumbleUpon, or the other social media tools found below. You can also show some love by buying stuff from the nice people advertising to the right.

Last week I attended the MarketingProfs Digital Mixer here in Chicago. It was, in short, a fantastic event.

I’ve written about it in detail on Experience Matters (Critical Mass’ blog). I really encourage you to read it.

The information provided and connections made were great. But this conference went beyond that. In fact, it’s become something of a living, growing thing. Connections are still being made. Attendees are still pouring over presentations and research reports that were shown.

Here’s a short quote from my post:

Now, conferences have to be more. Your attendees expect it. What they’re buying isn’t just a ticket or a rubber chicken lunch – what they’re buying is access and an experience that continues long after the conference ends.

I hope you take a moment to read the post at Experience Matters.

Tweet This Post!

*

If you enjoyed this post, consider signing up for free updates via email or RSS. Otherwise, I hope you share it on digg, StumbleUpon, or the other social media tools found below. You can also show some love by buying stuff from the nice people advertising to the right.

(Image courtesy of brilliantvideo via Flickr)

I failed last week.

I got into a big argument over a project I’m doing on the side. That’s not the big failure though.

The big failure is that it took this long to have the fight. I’d acquiesced and tried to find parity and compromise. I had grown too tired too quickly of defending my ideas which, after so much work, have proven prescient.

My strategy was sound, but I hesitated.

It doesn’t matter that the ideas were correct. Because I didn’t fight for those ideas, they’re long gone.

So, here’s how I hope to ensure this never happens again. I’m making a public pledge today – to you and to other marketers who may fall into the same trap.

I pledge to offend the status quo for the good of my clients.

I promise to be a change agent, even though I may be blamed for the painful symptoms during that change.

I will ruffle feathers. I will not shut up.

If it’s good for my client, I will spit on the path of least resistance.

I will be a rabble-rouser.

The client may not accept my ideas, but those ideas are what they’re paying for. To give anything less would be tantamount to stealing their money.

Have you ever felt like this? What did you do to get yourself back on the right path?

Could you make this same pledge? Is there anything you would add? We’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments box below.

Tweet This Post!

*

If you enjoyed this post, consider signing up for free updates via email or RSS. Otherwise, I hope you share it on digg, StumbleUpon, or the other social media tools found below. You can also show some love by buying stuff from the nice people advertising to the right.

(Image courtesy of damian 78 via Flickr)

During the month of November, I’d like to feature your ideas as a guest blogger on OnlineMarketerBlog. I hope to post one guest post per week during the next month.

To request a slot, email me at OnlineMarketerBlog [at] gmail [dot] com with your post idea. We’ll talk it over and, if it matches with the theme of this blog, we will run with it next month.

New writers are as welcome as experienced bloggers. This is a chance to show off your smarts to a new audience.

I’m going to be making some changes to the blog in the days and weeks to come. While I focus on that, I’d love for you to shine here.

Tweet This Post!

*

If you enjoyed this post, consider signing up for free updates via email or RSS. Otherwise, I hope you share it on digg, StumbleUpon, or the other social media tools found below. You can also show some love by buying stuff from the nice people advertising to the right.

(Image courtesy of *Susie* via Flickr)