Tag Archives: retail experience

Oops. There it is!

#agreesharon

Life is filled with so many interesting moments that I decided to create a regular conversation starter around the more entertaining observations. What’cha think?

How often do you stop and observe your surroundings?

Walking down a busy NYC street recently, I stopped to look at a lovely seating arrangement in the window of a high-end antique-auction house. Against the white fabric, was a dark spot. What is that? OMG. A large bug of some kind.

Laughing to myself, I went in to the store to find someone to share my observation. Surely, this could influence the bid price of the items. bug for blog

The staff member and I laughed at the situation. The large bug was a fat fly that had flown in from the street. The seating arrangement had already been sold. Both updates were positive.

The staff thanked me for taking the time to tell them of the bug and for taking the time to notice their window display.

How often do you stop and observe your surroundings?

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Customer Experience? Customer Engagement? Just do it!

To positively experience something OR to engage with something:

Are they any different?

Speaking to another marketing-industry friend recently, we joked about the overuse of the words: customer engagement and customer experience. The word engagement implies a deeper connection with the customer although the two of us agreed that every experience can make a lasting impact on ones’ choices and impressions.

  • Just do it.
  • Make me buy your product.
  • Make me use your service.
  • Make me smile.
  • Make me say “Thank you so much for making this happen for me.”

Here are a few simple examples.

Walking back to the office one afternoon, I passed this Starbucks promotion. Looking to bring patrons back into the store for a mid-afternoon energy boost, the offer plays to one’s earlier purchase and reinforces Starbucks position as an all-day food source.  The price point for the treat equates to a chocolate bar. Having been in the store earlier in the day, you would know that the breakfast crowd paid 3-4 times that price. (And, to those snickering, let’s assume that the product freshness is intact.) starbucksMake me buy your product. 

Our family does not own a car and we become weekly rental customers during the summer. blue carFinding myself in Boston with a customer service problem involving a car picked up at the local Boston airport, I first called the Executive Member Customer Service center. Fail. Then I called our local rental site hoping that they would help. Fail. A direct FB message resolved the problem in one hour.
All four components of that experience made an impression on me.

Make me want to use your services.

This photo was taken at a marketing conference about a year ago. infographicThe artist was quick, creative and able to distill key points into a visually appropriate sequence. Looking at the info-graphic, like watching a twitter feed at a conference, served to reinforce my own learning while the visual format highlighted nuances in the presentation.

The multi-sensory experience made me smile. 

Walking around Manhattan during the bewitching hour of the mid-afternoon school dismissals, can be most entertaining. The other day, I literally stopped and turned around as I heard the voice of a very young child telling his mother that he splattered paint in class similar to the Jackson Pollack style of painting. It was not surprising when the child then went on to ask his mom about her email follow ups to confirm his weekly play dates.

As a mom, I was mighty impressed with the school’s ability to engage this very bright young child. I could almost hear the mom saying to herself:

“Thank you (school and teachers) for making this love of learning happen for my child.” 

Customer Experience. Customer Engagement. Whatever you call it. Just make it positively – memorable.

 

 

Originally posted for MENG on Feb 20. 2015: Customer Experience? Customer Engagement? Just Do It? http://ow.ly/JjYLb by @sharonlewisnyc [TODAY’S POST] #MENGonline #Marketing