This Week’s Focus: Last week we were away on our annual family skiing trip to La Rosiere in France. This is the sixth year running we’ve been to La Rosiere – I actually met a client in a bar there one night, who pointed out to me that for someone who writes about change I didn’t seem to practise it with my holiday destinations! – and we have got to know a few of the local people, particularly the family that owns of one of restaurants on the mountain. Towards the end of the week we went for our usual morning round of drinks but when my friend went to pay the €40 he was told that there would be no charge.
The owner’s ‘thank you’ to us for our business was an unexpected surprise and, although we already visit his place at least twice a day for a quick vin chaud, it only made us even more loyal to his family’s café. His generosity came back to me this week during a meeting with an expert on loyalty programs, who advised me that the days of discounts and collecting points was over and that the future will be about surprising and delighting customers with added value extras. An unexpected ‘thank you’ beats a 1-point per £ discount!
What could you do to surprise and delight your customers with an unexpected ‘thank you’ and how could such actions help build their loyalty to your business?
Off The Record: I Thank You by Sam and Dave
You didn’t have to shake me like you did
But you did, but you did
And I thank you
And you didn’t have to make it like you did
But you did, but you did
And I thank you
This was the 1968 follow-up to Sam and Dave’s big hit, Soul Man, and, written by Isaac Hayes and David Porter, it has since been covered by artists including ZZ Top, Bon Jovi and Bonnie Raitt.
© Stuart Cross 2016. All rights reserved.