Last week a friend of mine went into the hospital for a simple-but-painful operation. He’s a corporate bigwig with more than a touch of hypochondria, so he didn’t mind spending top dollar for the best care.
The day after his surgery, I had a packed calendar, so I dropped by the hospital early in the morning, well before visiting hours. “I’m sorry,” said the guard at the front door, sounding more irritated that apologetic. “No visitors before 10 a.m.”
“I’m going to 11 West,” I replied, per my friend’s instructions.
The guard perked up immediately. “Oh, I’m sorry. Second set of elevators on your right. Enjoy your visit.”
On the VIP floor, I was greeted warmly by a receptionist in the wood-paneled foyer. I turned down her offer of coffee or a newspaper, and she pointed me toward my friend’s room. I opened the door and stopped in my tracks. His room was nearly the size of my apartment, perched directly above Central Park with New York City views that seemed to go on forever.
Even with a second bed for his overnight nurse, it felt like there was enough space for a pick-up game of basketball.
My friend’s wife was perusing the three-course breakfast options from a leather-bound menu, while my friend paced the floor in an embroidered waffle-weave bathrobe.
At the risk of sounding like a country bumpkin, I had to comment on the luxurious digs.
“Please,” my friend snapped, “this place is a joke. They advertise Frette bathrobes in their brochure. I’m telling you, this is not Frette.”
He was half kidding, of course, and I was glad to see that his sense of humor survived the surgery intact. Still, he went on to list a half-dozen ways that his VIP room fell short of its price tag. “They just lost his business,” I thought to myself — but I was wrong.
When a complication forced him back into the hospital a day after he was discharged, my friend once again whipped out his credit card and checked right back into his VIP room. Turns out he wasn’t concerned about floor space or Frette linens on fluffy omelets served on china.
The big selling point for him didn’t actually cost the hospital a thing: He simply didn’t want to be alone, and that required an exception to the rules.
When was the last time you looked at your company policies as a marketing tool? No doubt there’s a perfectly good reason for every rule you have in place, but think how much loyalty you could gain by granting exceptions to your best customers.
Freebies, discounts, special packaging — they all cost real money, and they might not be appreciated in the way you expect. But bending the rules? It doesn’t have to cost a penny, and I’ve never met anyone who’s immune to a phrase like, “Okay, we can do it just for you … ”
Sure, it’s important to have Standard Operating Procedures — but aren’t there some customers who should feel anything but standard?
Is this a hidden marketing opportunity?
Photo credit: liber via flickr CC
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I am a Mfg. rep and it amazes me when my manufactures will not give a little to help a customer. This is the cheapest advertising available. Tremendous loyalty can be established by bending a rule now and then. In today’s competitive market loyalty is more valuable than ever.
Thanks Chuck, that’s a great example. How big are your manufacturers? Seems like the bigger the company, the more rules they have — and thus, more opportunities to establish fanatical loyalty among their best customers. It’s just too bad that the person writing the rules never gets the chance to interact directly with those customers.
Maybe it’s because I only have a few of them, but really, I want ALL of my clients to feel anything but standard. Sometimes going over and above and beyond makes my life more difficult than it should be, but I keep doing it because I want my clients to walk away thinking that working with a professional writer was one hundred times easier and better than they thought it would be.
dava recently posted..Does Being Free Make It Worth Your Time?
I hear you, Dava. For smaller businesses, I really don’t see why anything should be carved in stone. Every interaction should be individualized and customized, right? As you say, that’s the whole point of hiring a pro. More work, maybe … but hopefully more rewarding, too. With that kind of mindset, your clients come back again and again, I’m sure.
rjones recently posted..Turn your rules into marketing tools