As I mentioned in a previous post, implanting an idea in another person’s mind and having them think it’s their own is the basic premise for the movie Inception. Here is how to use in your customer service.

Because today’s customers are very demanding with high expectations suppliers must be ready to deliver what the customer wants. The more the customer feels like they want to be part of the organization, the more they will tell others about your organization.

The Regular

Customers love to be recognized as a regular, be called by name, be able to say “the usual” and the server knows what that means. I know of a guy who has his preferred drink waiting on him at his favorite table as soon as they see him drive into the restaurant parking lot. Now what came first – the great service, or the fact that he dines at this establishment so often they just got to know him. Now the brain-twister: does he come there 3 to 4 days a week because it’s his idea or because the establishment has such great service they implanted the idea in his mine he could become a regular with that level of service if he just came back more?

People like to be known as regulars, people like to think they are memorable enough the service provider knows how they order, what they like to wear, that they like to be on the cutting edge of technology, and people like to be recognized as a member of the club within the club (“Welcome to Marriott Mr. White. I see you are a gold member with us and we are glad to have you back staying with us.”)

These are what will bring customers back time and time again and they will think it’s their own idea to make that choice.

The Rewards

Don’t be fooled that reward programs make a difference. It all depends of the value of the rewards. For example my Marriott points will allow me to accumulate them until eventually they will provide me with a couple of “free” nights I can use for vacation. This has value on many levels.

The new key chain tag I now have from Panera they scan on each visit will eventually give me a free bagel every ten visits or so. This doesn’t have the same value because I know the buyer data they are collecting from me is of far greater value to them than the bagel they give me in return.

Hey Panera, how about a “First Class” line for those who accumulate enough visits to achieve a preferred status? Or a sample bagel of the newest flavor you are beta-testing periodically? Now this program would have more clout because the customer now feels of more value. And that’s the point. When I feel that I get special treatment (that I am willing to earn) at any establishment suddenly your location becomes my preferred destination – and “I thought of going there all on my own.”  Really now.

1. The busy signal

Phone technology has advanced so much we rarely hear a busy signal any more. Call waiting and voice mail have made hearing the busy signal obsolete. Ask a young person what does a busy signal sound like, and watch the look they give you.

2. Dial up modem

Once again a sound that you hardly hear anymore is the electronic gurgling of a dial up modem searching then making a connection. 10 years ago this was the common Internet connection, today it is pretty much gone from existence.

3. The “Blind” date

Once upon a time when you were fixed up on a blind date you had no clue who the person was or anything about her other than what your friend told you about her. Today with Google, Facebook, Myspace, and Twitter there is an encyclopedia of knowledge you can obtain before actually meeting in person. Which begs the question: Are you using these tools to learn about prospects before calling on them?

4. Poor TV reception

No more rabbit ears and tin foil to find the best channel reception. We have more than 4 stations to pick from as well. CBS, NBC, ABC and PBS were about all the choices you had and getting them watchable was an exercise.

5. Waiting to get photos developed

Photo technology has changed from waiting a few days to get back vacation pictures to having them on your computer in five minutes. Almost unlimited capacity and no waiting are the code words of the photo industry today.

6. Answering machine

Along with the busy signal the small answering machine box has all but disappeared in its short lived life span. This product was being replaced almost as fast as it was invented. It had a very short life cycle.

7. A calculator watch

We no longer need watches with tiny button to do basic calculations on. In fact, we no longer are in need of wrist watches to tell time. Good thing the industry decided to market them as status and jewelry accessories.

8. Floppy disk

Ten years ago portable memory was on 3.5 inch disks that held so little memory capacity; most current programs wouldn’t fit on ten of them. Today, thumb drives, and portable hard drives the size of transistor radios (remember them?) make memory capacity readily available. Expect these devices to go the way of floppy disks in the near future as well with the advance of cloud computing.

9. Car cigarette lighters

The ubiquitous cigarette lighter was on the dash board of every car. Who knew that penny-sized hole would transform into an electronics charging port? The lighters don’t even come with the port anymore as the transformation from lighter to charger port is complete.

10. Getting an AOL disk in the mail

Monthly I was getting a disk of free minutes for AOL. Snail mail spam as it were. When was the last time you saw one of those? AOL the pioneer of online connection is lost in the vast number of ways to access the all important information highway.

Consumers, whether individuals or businesses, are overwhelmed with a barrage of information and choices. As a result, they often shut down and avoid the buying process altogether.

Use these questions to apply the information Russell provides to fit your organization:

1. Do we need to pare down our product and service offerings to a more manageable level so we can offer more complete, better-informed suggestions to our potential customers? How do we do that?

2. Once we have reached the decision-making stage, how do we simplify that process so that we don’t sabotage our sale by offering too many options or too much information?

3. How can we distill out marketing message down to the most important thought we want to communicate?

Russell J White teaches how to maximize the new power customers have with social media technology. Here are 3 tips on how to ensure your customers are using their Vast Influential Power to help grow your business. For FREE discussion questions to go with this video, email me at RJWhite@PinnacleSolutions.org and they are yours to train your staff to assist in growing your business. Check out the short video!

Want to use this video for a short teachable moment for your staff? Use these questions for discussion following this short video.

1.  How are you currently keeping the customer coming back for more?
2.  What do you need to do to create the “insider” for your best customers?
3.  What type of insider specials can you develop that make the customer actually feel part of the organization?
4.  How can you create a customer experience your competition can’t or won’t match?
5.  List 25 ways you can create such attention that customers are literally lining out of the door waiting on your product? Of those 25, pick three that are keepers and put them to work.

All the major networks had dueling meteorologists competing for viewership each trying to raise the volume and hyperbole to the point of frenzy. Somewhere Jim Cantore was smiling.

Television news departments were once the bastion of information, the town crier, the people you trusted completely (Walter Cronkite take a bow) and now they’ve dissolved to the point of the boy who cried wolf.
We have gone from inviting news broadcasters into our living rooms to having them throw themselves at us during our program viewing. These are acts of desperate people in an industry that is going away. Going away?

Yes going away. Network television with set viewer schedules, local news broadcasts at 6 and 11, and blackout ball games are going away. The internet provides people with unlimited options whenever they want to view them, sports leagues and college conferences are getting their own channels, and quality stories no longer have to reach the masses.

Customers now want the controls

How do you need to be reaching your customers differently?

Where do you find yourself shouting to be heard above the noise of the competition? It’s time to find a better way. The louder the noise, the more customers distrust the information they are hearing and then get angry. Remember the frustration over phone solicitation to the point we now have a no call list? Do you have any idea how many angry calls the stations got for interrupting programming and live sports events? People will find options to avoid the interruptions.

Consider how you need to be doing things differently in:

Getting your customer to want to hear your message
Letting the customer take the controls
Avoiding the old school methods of interruption “programming”

How about a reality check for small business owners:

Your credit card processing fees are not the customer’s concern

That was the reason given for not splitting a lunch check of three people that was over $40 total. If you can’t handle the cost of doing business get out of the kitchen!

Friendly service actually brings people back for more business

There was no indication while we were ordering our meals and drinks that splitting the check was going to be a problem. This was not brought up until we were going to settle the bill as we were leaving. Surprise! Might as well say, “Oops, the menu prices are actually one dollar less than the actual price.” Needless to say I will not be going back, nor were others at other tables also upset with this policy.

When you close your doors it wasn’t the economy

When this little establishment no longer has enough customers to cover the overhead, they are most likely going to blame the economy. I can only envision the weeks leading up the eventual demise – “No sir we can’t heat your food, that just costs us too much money.”

Most businesses close as a result of a disaster, a shift in the method of doing business (want to be a phone book salesman?) or leadership who are not in tune with their community and customers.  Frequently customers are lost because of basic oversights by leadership. Having a policy refusing to split a lunch check is not just an oversight; it’s downright stupid in the face of growing competition and shrinking discretionary dollars.

Check out this short video for 5 ways to build customer trust.

Buyers have 5 important questions they must have answered successfully before they are willing to buy.

1. Can I trust you?
2. Do you care about me?
3. Are you enjoyable to work with?
4. Do you have what I want?
5. Are you going to be fair with me?

Check out this short (less than 3 minutes) video on these buyer questions.
Bonus: Is your organization on a tight budget? Don’t let the learning stop!!! Why not use these Friday videos for a Lunch and Learn for your staff? Bring in a pizza or a deli tray, watch the short video and use the following discussions questions to figure the best way your organization can benefit from this information. I assure you, the ideas and action steps you create out of this process will be of greater value than the minimal investment of a staff lunch.

Lunch and Learn discussion questions for 5 Questions a Buyer Must Answer Before They will Buy:

How are your marketing messages, products and employee/customer interaction developing trust in the buyer’s mind? What action steps can be taken to make improvements?

How do the employees who come in direct contact with potential buyers demonstrate they are more interested in the person than the wallet? What different marketing and sales approaches could employees try to elevate customer care?

Buyers are looking for an enjoyable transaction process. How can you increase buyer joy in every transaction? Hint: Attitude is more important than price.

The Beatles White album has a message recorded backwards under the song Revolution Number 9. I had access to a radio studio turntable, so I could play the album backwards and hear what the words really said. These were the surprise prizes that were shared from person to person; the “inside” information made us feel in the know, clever for having figured it out, and part of a special crowd.

DVDs now do the same thing with Easter Eggs. They are exciting to discover, and the customer feels special and rewarded. And the best part for the customer — sharing the “secret” with someone else! For example, the Cars DVD has hidden treasures aficionados enjoy. If you’ve seen “Boundin’ with Mater,” you are an Insider!

Even TV shows. The little icons prior to commercials on Fringe spell words in code.

What are you doing to create the buzz of word of mouth marketing for your surprise prizes?

Do you know about the “secret menu” at In and Out Burger? Have it “Animal Style!” Are you a Maker’s Mark Ambassador with your own barrel of private stock bourbon? Now you want to be an Insider don’t you?

Define the “Insider”

Insider: A customer who feels special. A customer possessing special knowledge. A customer who has been given a unique and remarkable gift. A person who resists the invasion of the masses.

Insiders are going to be the best salespeople you have — and they will sell your company and products for free, and with greater enthusiasm than many in your paid sales force. With the speed information now travels across the Internet, a single person can create a tidal wave of information and buzz!

Create the “Insider”

Resist the temptation to overexpose an Insider opportunity. Let your customers do it for you! Avoid publicity. This flies in the face of conventional marketing wisdom, which is, in fact, its special power. It is non-conventional. It creates selectivity. Here are steps to consider in creating your Insider:

1. Define who you want to “qualify”

Who you want to qualify establishes your parameters. Are you looking to create buzz through a “membership” program? Correct mistakes overwhelmingly? Let your customers create the “inside” information? Have customers occasionally have discoveries and tell others where to find them? Your Insiders need to reflect the culture you are creating with your organization and products.

Maker’s Mark is a small distributor of high quality bourbon that is worth the extra expense to their clientele. Maker’s Mark’s “Ambassador” program is focused on those loyalists who want to be part of the Maker’s Mark family. Both the company and the loyal customer like the family feel and status identification of their product.

2. The discovery

Insiders love the discovery. It’s the surprise prize. The discovery has to be exciting, remarkable, and of value. In the early days of HBO, the movie channel used to offer a gift movie at midnight one night during the end of year holidays. In the listing it simply listed it as “movie” with no fanfare or promotion. One year, it was the movie Ghostbusters, which was a real surprise because it hadn’t been released on videotape and was barely out of the theaters. The unexpected discovery was exciting! I got to tell everyone the next day what they missed. I was an Insider who got a treat others missed out on! The discovery creates buzz, creates scarcity and makes the Insider feel special.

3. The gift

Maker’s Mark sends gifts unannounced. They just appear in my mailbox. Surprise! They are always gifts of quality that I can display, use and share with friends and are linked to the use of their product.

Some are gifts of immediate practical value such as engraved glasses and stirrers, and some are gifts of prestige. I’m proud to say there is a barrel of Maker’s Mark in their warehouse with my name on it. It’s a gift of recognition that my “Ambassador” status has significance.

I received a certificate announcing the birth of my barrel. I receive updates on its progress. My barrel will not be ready to be tapped for 7 years (how’s that for anticipation marketing!) — and notice how I say it is “MY” barrel. Roughly 18 names are on the 50-gallon barrel, but it’s mine! I can even have special engraved bottles made to share with friends. The extra expense for these VIP bottles? Who cares — I look like I am “The Man!” giving those away. This is what most Insiders value: the peer recognition of owning such a gift. I have given some of my Insiders golf towels from Augusta National, home of the Masters. It’s not the towel — it’s the comments from their friends that are the gifts.

4. The access pass

Insiders like special access. Whether it’s the password to a special website page or access to a “forbidden zone,” Insiders like the special treatment. On a distillery tour, the tour guide decided to take the small group where “we really shouldn’t go” through a door that read “No Unauthorized Admittance.” The buzz of the group at the end of the tour was being able to see behind the scenes.

It was doing the forbidden that made us feel special. It’s the backstage pass. It’s the press credential to get onto the field. All insiders want to feel special. It’s what we tell our friends about.

5. Keep it fresh

McDonald’s Happy Meals regularly change the toy inside with savvy movie tie-ins. The kids may not be in the driver’s seat but they make the fast food selection. They are the Insiders who were able to get the “limited edition” Mater toy.

You need to keep your Insider’s attention fresh. Your Insiders want to be intrigued. If every year you send out pocket knives (as one of my vendors still does), they lose their appeal. Since I fly so much, a pocket knife is now actually undesirable because if I forget it’s part of my normal pocket contents, not only will I lose it at airport security but I now have the inconvenience of getting pulled for a special security check. I no longer feel special. The vendor is no longer in touch with my needs, therefore I no longer feel like an Insider.

Insiders want to be appreciated, pampered and know the company is in tune with them. The minute you lose freshness with your Insiders they will feel less appreciated.

6. Listen to the Insiders for what they create

If your organization is lucky enough, your customers will create their own Insider information (I mean the good kind.) Nothing is better than word of mouth you never had to initiate. It’s information that takes on a life of its own. Be familiar with the buzz, enjoy it, and work to keep it for Insiders only without trying to overly capitalize on it. Why?

7. How to lose Insider buzz

A. Allowing the masses in.

Waffle House once had its Insider lingo: Scattered, Smothered, and Covered. It was the inside way to get special treatment to your hash browns for the after-midnight crowd. Word traveled fast about the lingo, and people knew there were options but not sure what they meant. Sadly, now some menus actually explain the words’ meaning and promote those options. Insiders no longer feel part of the inside few because now everyone is an Insider.

You will lose your Insider once the masses become the Insiders and the buzz will be lost.

B. Easy entry premium clubs

Airlines have their premium clubs trying to make frequent flyers feel special but the clubs have lost much of their meaning. What good is early boarding for premium club members if 85 percent of the passengers are in the club? What good are upgrades to first class seating if, as a flight attendant told me, the bean counters are removing 25 percent of the first class seats and replacing them with coach seats to make more money once they realized 25 percent of first class seats were being filled with premium upgrades? Thanks, USAirways! Now I feel so special!

A premium club has no meaning unless it has scarcity.

What are your scarcity items Insiders crave? What is the Top Secret information only given to Insiders? How are your customers creating buzz about your company or products? What are you allowing Insiders to discover? It’s the multi-million dollar marketing advantage you need to get in on.