E-couragement: Customer Engagement is Low Cost
“He profits most who serves best.” Arthur F. Sheldon On Saturday July 14, I arrived at the Indianapolis International Airport for the National Speakers Association 2012 Conference. After collecting my baggage and corralling several colleagues, we boarded the shuttle for the ride to our conference site hotel. One of my peers mentioned, “I’m staying in a hotel a few blocks away. The convention hotel is just too expensive.” After hearing his cost cutting measure and considering my four-night commitment to stay at the JW Marriott Indianapolis, a twinge of doubt and buyer’s remorse began to creep into my psyche. Those feelings quickly changed before I even checked in.
Only steps inside the hotel I noticed something unusual. The staff were standing in the lobby. They had come out from behind the long stately registration counter eagerly awaiting our arrival. As I moved towards them, Shari made eye contact, promptly welcomed me, and offered to check me into my room. After completing the check-in process, she suggested, “Let me walk you to your elevator.” She did just that, opened the elevator door and thanked me again for staying with them.
The next day I received an additional surprise in my room. A hand written, artistically created, note. It contained meaningful words and a gift card for Starbucks. I promptly made use of it by securing my favorite drink: half-caf grande no room Americano. By this time, the twinge of buyer’s remorse infiltrating my mind 24 hours earlier had morphed into buying pleasure.
The lesson is clear. Engaging your customer and creating a memorable experience can be low to no-cost. In my case the total expense was $2.72 for my Starbucks drink. Pretty sweet return on investment considering I paid a couple hundred dollars more to stay there. Shari’s actions help affirm my buying decision. The Indianapolis Marriott gets it—create an experience that causes your customers to be happy they’re paying more.
It’s that simple. It’s also rare. What if you unleashed a legion of Shari’s in your business. What if your cost of business stayed virtually the same yet you charged more because of the customer experience you delivered? What’s preventing you or your company from delivering experiences like this? It’s not the money.
Leave your comments: When have you been happy to pay more based on an engaging customer experience you’ve had?