Your Brand is the Extra Mile

Photo Credit: kashyap_hc

You know those moments, where you intentionally choose to go the extra mile? Do something unexpected to ensure that your customer has an experience second to none? It’s in those moments that your brand begins to take flight and to transform from the expected into the memorable.

Rather than waiting until the “mood strikes” why not take this opportunity design those unexpected moments? Think about all the tiny niceties that your brand allows.

I ran across an article recently on Customerthink.com that talks about the work Mountain View Tire does to go above and beyond their customer’s expectations and to create their brand. It’s the little things, bringing a cold drink out to service call, but the little things add up.

Even if you’re an online store, a business many would consider to be the most impersonal out there, you’ve got a real opportunity to be memorable. Once your customer places their order, think about all the ways you can make the receipt of their purchase memorable. I very occasionally order from an online store, Strawberrynet.com (when I want a brand that’s not available locally). What makes them special is that they wrap every purchase I make in silver wrapping paper and tie it with a gauze bow. Then carefully packs it in a shipping container and sends it on its way-with free shipping. Trust me, even when it’s a refill on a product I’ve been using – the way it arrives makes an impression. It’s all the more impressive because the store is a discount perfume and cosmetics shop, where I certainly wasn’t expecting over the top service, just a known product for a fair price. What keeps me coming back is the care they take with each order, and the loyalty club they offer, that gives me real money off my purchase for each new level of purchasing that I reach (up to an additional 10% off) doesn’t hurt either.

So why doesn’t every store create that kind of an impression? Well – it’s hard work and it eats into your already thin margins. And it takes a certain degree of creativity to execute. But if you can price your products correctly, imagine the wow factor that you could create and the repeat customers you could have if you were brave enough to embrace and follow their business model.

Today, think about how you can inject personality and repeat customers into your business by going the extra mile for your customers. We all know it’s so much easier to keep an existing customer than it is to get a new one – so get out there and proactively “wow” your customers so they come back again and again for more – and in the process, let your brand take flight.