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Marketing Attention-Getter from Bloomingdale's
I ordered a coat from Bloomingdale’s last week to take advantage of their huge winter reductions (thank you, Scarlett DeBease!). When I opened the package I was delightedly surprised to see the enclosed card tucked inside my well-wrapped garment.
Of course I had to think, “How did they know?” Followed by, “They must say that to all their shoppers!” And then considered how well-crafted the message was, because it was indeed true.
Notice how much of my attention Bloomingdale’s received (and is now the beneficiary of with this posting) by coming up with this flattering, well thought out campaign.
Below you can read what was printed on the reverse side. How likely do you think they are to receive an increased response rate to their survey? What are you taking away from this? How to capture your customer’s attention is a tried, true and evergreen–flattery. Have you tried it lately?
Reverse side
Yesterday was a glorious day in CT, especially compared to last Sunday when we were all cleaning up from that freaky fall blizzard and subsequent power outages. This day was sunny, blue skies and the perfect temperature for taking in a multitude of offerings.
I chose to attend Crafts on Stage at SUNY Purchase for which my dear friend and colleague Terry Capuana has served as Chair. I was also attracted to this event because I saw that Micki Ravitz (in photo with me) was among the exhibitors.
I’d recently mentioned Micki in the talk I gave at the Saybrook Point Inn when relating the lesson I nickname, Graduating from Wannabe, in my book Soul Proprietor. When I first began exhibiting my decorated eggs in the late ’70′s, I had a tiny booth across the aisle from Micki’s large and luxe ultrasuede boutique which was dripping with her elegant handmade necklaces. Her booth was constantly populated with loving fans waiting for a moment with this talented woman who would select exactly the perfect piece of jewelry for them, write up their order, then send them off with her warm and sincere smile and a hug. I wanted what she had.
The lesson I learned in observing those attributes–gorgeous booth/display, return clientele, a warm and generous spirit–was that I could attain them by imitating the master. I worked long and hard to afford someone who could design a new booth for me. I started a mailing list and conscientiously sent out postcard reminders to let my fans know when I’d next be exhibiting. I worked on my attitude and brought along a new and positive one to my weekends of public exposure.
There’s great information in those feelings of envy and jealousy that can be mined for success.
When I told this story in Old Saybrook, an audience member raised her hand and enthusiastically said, “I know Micki, and it’s all true!” I wanted to share that story with Micki when I saw her at her booth on Sunday. She greeted me as warmly as any of her ‘old’ customers with a huge smile and a hug. She had actually already been told about the story, so we shared a good laugh. I reminded her of how much I admired her style, especially her lavish booth. “It’s over 35 years old!” she exclaimed. I loved that, too, because when you invest in yourself, it pays you back.
Although I’ve bought pieces of Micki’s jewelry in the past, yesterday I chose 
to buy a beautiful bracelet from another exhibitor. After the purchase, I asked if I might take a photo of the artisan in her booth. She had a well integrated look that supported her craft beautifully and professionally. I wanted to share that with you. Notice the large photo images and name branding, the proprietor elegantly wearing her own designs, the simplicity of the booth (even this small slice of it that you see) and the edited selection of pieces offered. Customers can be overwhelmed by the sheer volume of work on display. Wendy narrowed the choices making it easy for me to select one of the designs similar to what she was wearing on her own wrists.
After leaving the fair in NY, I followed the advice of my dentist who has often mentioned the energy medicine doctor he’s been seeing and now swears by. Dr. Jeffrey Zimmerman held an opening of his new wellness company in downtown Westport on Sunday afternoon. I was able to arrive in time to hear his lecture on energy medicine after my trip to Westchester.
I was inspired enough by his personal story and information to sign up for an upcoming class on self-healing and wellness. I left his talk and went home for a well-deserved and nurturing nap.
I just finished reading Onward by Howard Schultz, chairman, president and chief executive officer of Starbucks–lower case letters used by his example. The subtitle of the book is How Starbucks Fought for Its Life without Losing Its Soul. You may remember the closing of many Starbucks stores a few years ago and the looming possible demise of the company. Howard Schultz took back his leadership position and turned the company around. Onward is the tale he tells about this journey. I was mesmerized.
I’m sure every reader is familiar with Starbucks as it is, according to this book, the most frequented retailer in the world. What a gift to read this account of the good, the bad and the ugly of that journey back to profitability well written by his co-author Joanne Gordon.
What, you may ask, can I, a sole/soul proprietor, gain from this corporate giant? Let me count the ways! Here are just a few of the nuggets I highlighted in my edition:
- “Third Place” concept created by Starbucks – a social yet personal environment between one’s house and job (or home office). ~Raise your hands if you’ve met a client or colleague at this “third place.”
- Starbucks is intensely personal. p. 23 ~Isn’t your business, when you really come down to it?
- If coffee and people are our core, the overall experience is our soul. p. 25
- Moving forward became more important than laying blame. p. 28
- We needed to rediscover who we were and imagine who we could be. p. 73 ~Even big companies need to do vision work.
- We will transform the company internally by being true to our coffee core and by doing what will be best for customers. p. 90
- People inside the company needed to see and connect with me. Often. I had to be accessible, almost ubiquitous, more than I’d ever been. p. 99
- Anyone can ask questions with no fear of retribution. p. 99
- When we relegate responsibility to our partners and give them the right tools and resources, they will exceed expectations. p. 110
- Starbucks mission: To inspire and nurture the human spirit one person, one cup and one neighborhood at a time. p. 112 ~Is your mission as simple and straightforward as this?
- Partners mission: We always treat each other with respect and dignity. p. 113
- Emotional connections our true value proposition. p. 117
- At its core, I believe leadership is about instilling confidence in others. p. 308
Is any of this relatable for you?
I had to bring my car in for its 5000 mile service check-up this morning. Although blogging was on my schedule today, I never expected to find inspiration at my car dealership. But there it was. Right on the keyboard of my service guy. His script!
I remember the first time I heard someone mention creating a script for a phone call. I thought it was cheating. Since then, I’ve come to realize, it’s good business. Think about what you want to say ahead of time. Type up a script and rehearse it over and over until it feels natural to speak the words. Then have it right near the phone so that you can refer to it each time you make or receive a call.
If it’s good enough for Toyota, it’s good enough for me.
At what point do you quit the chase?
I deposited a check without an envelope in early March via the automatic device that scans them and produces an image of the deposited entry. The $20 check was a Western Union money order and was read by the scanner as $200. That was how it was entered in the bank’s record. I entered it as $20 on my business register, figuring it would all get resolved in the wash.
When I got a $12 charge on my account because of the mis-read amount, I balked. I knew it was a $20 deposit. At the end of the day, the bank would have $20 in their coffers, so I anticipated that I’d receive a notice saying they had made an error and that the deposit was actually only $20, which of course I knew. Not so fast.
After multiple phone calls by my assistant, to whom I pay $20 per hour, I made the executive decision to not press any further once I got the $12 charge reversed. I still didn’t have my $20 deposit credited to my account. Amelia called Western Union who, for a $15 charge, will re-issue the check if I would present them with a notarized letter from my bank. I don’t think so. The principle of delegating is to pay someone fewer dollars so that you can make your optimum amount in the same time and still come out ahead. Once Amelia had spent over 45 minutes on this issue, I stopped the process (although my gut is still churning a bit).
Since making that wayward ATM deposit in early March, I see that the machine now asks the depositor to verify the amount of the deposit and doesn’t leave that decision up to the eyes of the scanner. I don’t think it was just because of my $20 incident that this option was implemented, but it will prevent further errors like this.
Do you always know when to let go? My $20 lesson is to be 100% observant when making deposits like this. I cop to sometimes texting or talking on the phone when performing this kind of task. No more! I did get a blog post out of it, which does have value.
In my WBDC Fast Trac Growth Venture course this past Saturday the discussion focused on what market segment brings in the most revenue. One student’s report carefully illustrated how eight customers brought in the bulk of their company’s revenues. Most people in business know the Pareto Principle, and here it was in action.
The question then is how does your business nurture those relationships? What do you do to keep the top 20% of your clientele happy, buying and telling their friends about you? We all brainstormed and discussed the pro’s and con’s of direct mail, ads, events and coupons. What’s so great about these sessions is that while one person’s case was being analyzed, I got to think about my own offerings and how to leverage the most successful part of my market.
Everyone attending on Saturday agreed that, although the people who pay to have access to you through lower-end items or events are valuable, it is critical to pay the most attention and time to the identified group who pay the most. Designing special events for that segment is effort and money well-spent. The positive energy and excitement around that marketing focus will filter through your business. It may activate some of the other clients to move up to the ranks of the higher end. In my case, attendees at my networking events may sign on for a Mastermind Group or as 1:1 clients. For the business that was being spotlighted, it meant individual customers spending more on their product lines.
For those of you who read this blog regularly, you know how often I bring winks from the Universe into my writing, especially in the form of song lyrics. I’ve been listening to the cast album of [title of show] recently, so a song from there kept coming into my mind relating to my best customers. It’s called Nine People’s Favorite Thing (9pft), and the chorus has these words:
I’d rather be nine people’s favorite thing
Than a hundred people’s ninth favorite thing.
Joe Connolly, who gives business updates regularly on CBS radio news, caught my ear the other morning with the report that soon airlines will charge customers for the ‘privilege’ of pre-selecting their seats. Of course, this ‘privilege’ has been standard-operating-procedure and free for all the years I’ve been flying, as has bringing luggage at no extra cost. But all of that is changing. Like every other company trying to stay afloat in the new economy, airlines are nickel and diming in increasingly unpleasant ways.
As a frequent flyer, this caught my attention. With flights scheduled (and seats already reserved, thank goodness) to Phoenix, Milwaukee, LA and San Diego in the near future, I’m feeling the squeeze. (NB – We only pay attention to the news that affects us. I’m certain that my NYC-based sister, who hasn’t driven a car in decades, couldn’t tell you the price of gas, while I know by heart the cheapest pumps in town.)
Listening to the cast album of Les Miz while on the treadmill this morning, I was smiling, then sneering, at the lyrics to Master of the House:
Charge them for the lice
Extra for the mice
Two percent for looking in the mirror twice
Here a little slice
There a little cut
Three percent for sleeping with the window shut
I promise not to start charging for reading my blog.
For those of you who have been following my mistaken pedicure appointment last week, here’s the last chapter. I got my free pedicure yesterday, and what a treat it was.
I shared the whole blog story with Monica, the woman at my feet (!) who delighted in hearing about the passionate responses I got. I also asked if I might share her contact information, especially because her resolution to the missing-word-text was so satisfying.
I’ve posted her business card below. If you want a real treat, and/or if you want baby soft feet again, let Monica take care of you. She does an amazing job of working with people’s feet (hands, too, but I go there just for my toes). She takes her craft very seriously, even took a course out west to learn how to make custom fitted shoes. She really cares about our comfort and the health and beauty of these lower extremities of ours.
At the end of this appointment I scheduled my next one for late February just before I leave for a beach vacation where feet really matter. Monica used an old-fashioned #2 pencil to write out the date and scheduled time on the back of her business card. I’ll put it in my tickler file and bring it along with me next month–just for clarity’s sake.
Thank you all for your wonderful comments. I did give Monica a sizable tip, which she appreciated, and which felt great to me.
(For this to make sense, please read yesterday’s post first.)
…My pedicurist texted me on Saturday with a big apology and the offer of a free appointment. She listed every time slot she had on her calendar, which for anyone who texts knows is a lot of work.
Your comments were enlightening and heartening to read. You’re all business owners, so you know what’s at stake. What I realized from this was that everyone operates out of his/her own self-interest. To be truly successful in business and in life requires the maturity to accept responsibility and extend ourselves to our clients. Yes, there’s a cost (time, money, pride), but losing a customer is far more expensive.
In the spirit of full disclosure, this was what the original text said:
I have anytime on Friday unless someone cancels. Any other day and time?
I saw only “I have anytime on Friday” and dismissed the rest, because that’s what I wanted to see. Have you ever done that? Human error here, too.
The Universe has a magical way of helping me/us see both sides. Yesterday I received a message on my phone from my shiatsu practitioner. “Jane, it’s 4pm. I had us down for an appointment today.” I have him on my calendar for next Monday at 4pm, but I know that he was right, and I was in error. At the end of each treatment he takes out his phone and he types in our next appointment while I’m standing there. That visual cue reinforced my own mistaken listing. I have him as a recurring event in my calendar program in which he shows up weekly, even though our appointments are usually 3-4 weeks apart. I deleted the wrong Monday date.
I sent him a check for the missed appointment this morning. What’s good for the goose is good for the gander.
Can’t wait for my luxurious pedicure this Friday. Boy, do I need it!
This entry could be subtitled, “The Problem With Texting.” Here’s what happened:
I treat myself to a pedicure every couple of months. Not the standard fare of popping into the ubiquitous nail salons in my area, but a high end, highly skilled treatment that really takes care of these bodily extremities and nurtures me as well. My practitioner, a successful business owner, operates her shop solo where she sees one devoted client at a time. She communicates primarily through text messages, which is how I had set up my appointment for last Friday.
Imagine my dismay when I arrived at her salon to find another woman about to dip her feet into the warm, bubbly tub my toes were yearning for. “You’re not expecting me, are you?” I asked, stating the obvious.
My pedicurist looked at me with wonder and said, “No.”
What do you do in 2011 when you believe you’re right and can prove it? I pulled my BlackBerry out of its holster and went directly to her text message that said, “I have anytime on Friday…” Admittedly, this was followed by a couple more phrases which didn’t make sense and I ignored. I texted back, “I’d like 10am on Friday” and put it on my calendar.
Because she’s a savvy business owner, she too has a BlackBerry and also found our correspondence. She looked at it, looked at me, and said, “What I meant to say was I don’t have anytime on Friday.” Human error.
I laughed, had a moment of relief that I wouldn’t have to face the icy parking lot with open-toed shoes, and said good-bye.
I won’t tell you today what transpired. I’m curious to hear what you would have done as the client and the business owner. I’ll post all your comments.
