Do your customers "buy" or have a "social experience"?

Good morning folks,

I hope everybody is doing well - Friday is here! This is just a quick thought that I thought I’d share… I sent out an email to our subscribers about this yesterday. It has to do with getting your customers to share their experience with friends, not just “buy” from you.

As you probably know, social media is integrating into almost every aspect of life. When something goes wrong - people post about it. When something great happens - people post about it. When people go somewhere to do something - they post about it.

And most importantly, when people want to try (or buy) something, they go online to research it. It is becoming increasingly important that you take social media into consideration and make sure your business is conducive to this strategy.

Here is an example…

Several years ago, when Wal-Mart was dominating Target stores (in almost every retail category), Target realized that instead of competing with the larger company, they should differentiate themselves, improve the experience, and connect with their customers. If not, they would be faced with bankruptcy down the road.

It was an amazing transformation. Now Target has carved it’s own niche. It is a trendy, cool, and affordable place to shop.

I’m willing to bet that you’ve seen Facebook posts such as, “OMG! I just spent another $150 on clothes at Target!” …I see them almost every week.

On the flip side, Wal-mart receives much less support. By in large, consumers love their low prices, but they feel guilty (or ashamed) by the stigma attached with purchasing from a retailer catering to small budgets.

What does this mean?

It all boils down to sales and reputation.

You’ve got to “see” your business like a consumer does. You have to understand what drives their purchase decisions.

Every time a customer orders your food and posts to Facebook, your company instantly appears on computers and mobile phones for hundreds of people (determined by their number of friends).

This is huge.

I hope this was worth posting, I think it is something that all business owners should consider moving forward.

Have an excellent weekend, all the best!

-Chris

I always tell my employees that I would suspect 75% of customers are celebrating something when they are ordering from us. It is there job to find out what.

When I was a server year’s ago I found it a great way to connect with my customers. I found they were justifying the purchase by “celebrating” something. It might be as lame as “It’s Friday, let the weekend begin” or “Family Night Out”, “Got a new job”, "Excercised all week (or if ya got a regular who all the sudden orders salads ya pretty much know they are dieting…great time to say “Have you lost weight?”

Birthdays, Anniversaries, Mother’s Day, First Day of School, Hard Day at work, oven broke, good grades, new job, reconnect with an ol pal, new house it just goes on and on.

Connecting with customers does build a customer base…but we are going for “feels like family” base.

Loved the article… thanks!

kris

Chris, you’re on that critcal leading edge. If someone out there isn’t a believer, just ask your 20something or 30something relatives or friends. Thanks for the post.