Make Em Smile Marketing

posted by David Wolf on May 29, 2008 | Comments (6) | Permalink | Trackback URL

Pssst…Hey, small business owner. Have you ever thought about the cost of a customer walking out your door with a frown instead of a smile? It’s not a pretty number. This is a great working example of launching your own inexpensive negative marketing campaign… big time. And have you thought about what you might have spent to change that frown into a smile before he made it to the exit door of your shop? Relative to the cost of the frown, to your business, it would have cost you nothin’. Peanuts. Bubkiz. Nadda.

Consider for a moment that this frowning, unhappy former-customer who just left your shop is a marketer too. An expert. Your customer. He’s a word of mouth marketer. And he’s really motivated cause he’s pissed. He’s a megaphone. He’s not happy with whatever did or didn’t happen today with your service, product or attitude. He’ll tell 10 people, each of who will tell 10 more..you get the idea. It’s a viral spiral and you’re no longer in control (as if you ever were!) And one other question for you: How much do you spend on say, yellow pages marketing each year? Just curious. I’ll bet it’s a whole lot more than what it would have cost you to “make” that unhappy, frowning customer smile on the way out of your shop.

Tom Feltenstien worked with McDonald’s for years. Now he writes books about smallbiz marketing. He developed something called “Four Walls Marketing” and wrote a book around that principle. Among other things, he says EVERYTHING is marketing and and marketing starts within the four walls of your shop. Every detail, every employee behavior, the colors of your walls, the lighting, the signage, the vibe… everything. Forget about billboards, radio, TV or the yellow pages. If you don’t have your marketing together within the four walls of your business, (he’s says)…then you’ve got no business spending money or energy on marketing outside the four walls! I love this. Meanwhile, back to our customer who’s frowning and dissatisfied with whatever.

Let’s say you own a bagel shop (I know absolutely nothing about the bagel business) and you’re out of…salt bagels. Salt bagel lovers are extremely persnickety about their salt bagels. Now, this is a tough situation. You have to make this fussy salt bagel lover customer smile… and transform him into a more than satisfied customer before he heads for the door. Now, if you even dare to think about NOT doing something over the top for this guy because you think it will cost you more than it’s worth, you’re fired. (Sorry) But here’s where the rubber meets the road with your “Four Walls” marketing initiative. I’d consider asking this guy what you can do for him to make him happy, then triple the value of his response. He says, “what else do you have today?” and you say x, y or z. He’s thinkin’ a single bagel substitute is all he can get and he’s really bummed. He wanted his salt bagel and you’re out of ‘em. But, instead, you surprise him and you buy him a bakers dozen and a coffee…on the house! Think about this: That bakers’ dozen and 12 ounce joe cost you nada and you just launched a new word of mouth marketing campaign. This guy will leave your business looking for the first person to share his extraordinary bagel victory at your place of business. He’ll be smiling all the way to the toaster. And you’ve just created a spontaneous word of mouth marketing campaign for the price of a bakers’ dozen. Now, that cost a whole lot less than a quarter page in the Sunday display ads, eh? Might as well throw in an 8 oz cream cheese too!

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