Wastin' Away Again In Margaritaville
Dear Friend,
Today I want to remind you what doing business is all about. Because it's not about how sharp you are that determines your success... it's not about how much money you charge... and it's not even about what you're selling.
Last week, I re-learned first hand, that...
It's All About What Kind Of Experience Your Customers Are Having!
Here's what happened: Friday Anne and I took the kids over to the Universal Studios Theme Park "Islands Of Adventure". The park's only an hour away and since we still had time on our annual passes, and since the kids were home from from school, and since (dare I say it) it's cooling down some, we just figured "what the heck", let's pack 'em all into the van and take the 90-minute drive over.
Let me give you 3 examples of things that happened, that made my life INCREDIBLY easy and enjoyable, and took very little effort (if any) on the part of the hosts at Universal, but yet it ensures they'll continue getting annual guest passes from the Garber family, for a long time to come.
1. My daughter ordered macaroni and cheese for lunch. When I brought it back to our table and she scooped up a spoonful, she said it tasted pretty "nasty". I went back to the counter and asked if they could help me with this, and the server IMMEDIATELY asked if we'd like a Hamburger platter instead, which we happily accepted.
Experience: No hassles (which is worth everything), no forms to fill out, no resistance, completely accomodating.
2. My daughter and I waited on line to meet Spiderman and get a picture with him. Once we got up there, he didn't just shake our hand and pose with us, he spent a good 5 minutes talking with my daughter and asking her genuine questions about what kind of fun she was having... what her favorite part of the park was... and in general, he was just being a really good guy.
This got us both involved and we actually bought a picture of us with Spidey because of it. Here it is:
Fortunately, as you can see... my daughter favors my good-looking wife.
Experience: Involvement, excitement, and most important at a theme park -- making and capturing memories.
3. Lastly, on the way out, we stopped to grab a delicious frosty frozen Margarita at Jimmy Buffet's place, "Margaritaville".
I don't know why but I really love the atmosphere here. In fact, I love it so much I wind up buying a bunch of junk in their retail shop every time we're passin through.
There's also a bar just across from the restaurant -- it's more of a Tiki Hut looking thing, and it's not called Margaritaville, but that's where I wanted to have my drink. So after I finished paying for all the t-shirts and coasters I bought at Margaritaville, I asked the gal at the counter if the Tiki Hut was one of their bars too.
She told me, "Yes, that's one of our bars, we also have one right outside where you came in, then we have one upstairs, we have our Volcano Bar inside the restaurant, and we also have one on the veranda where you can sit outdoors and eat your meals."
So count 'em -- that's 5 freakin' bars for one restaurant! I don't think I'm the only person looking for a Margarita.
Experience: Fantastic! Convenience, convenience, convenience.
Now that you've seen this from the outside looking in at someplace else, go through your entire selling process and see what kinds of "experiences" you're giving your clients and customers, and make sure you're not just "selling".
Think about where you can improve whatever experience they're having, and not only will they come back for more, but you'll be able to charge more too.
Think I'm wrong? Believe me, we hardly drink and yet we own a bunch of Margaritaville "swizzle sticks" that cost me a small fortune. And they wouldn't be in my cabinets collecting dust, if I hadn't had such a good experience.
Now go sell something,
Craig Garber
Any comments?
Send them to me by scooting over to the contact form on my "Here's How To Contact Craig" page, and maybe I'll publish them -- I appreciate your feedback!
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