Promise Me You’ll Never Do This…
By Anna Johnson on August 18th, 2008This week a true story… and something for you to think about.
Not too long ago, my husband and I drove 90 minutes to the northwest of Melbourne, Australia to spend a weekend of pampering in the historic country town of Daylesford.
Daylesford is nestled among hills and natural mineral spas, and is known for its many bed-and-breakfasts (B & Bs), fine restaurants and cafes, and many massage and alternative health centers, among other things.
It’s a popular weekend retreat for Melbournians and my husband and I have stayed there several times over the past few years.
Funnily enough, though, we have never stayed at the same B & B or guest house twice.
While I’d like to say this is because we always like trying new things… this isn’t really the case: we tend to gravitate back to the same restaurants, cafes and other places, that we know and trust!
The truth is that we haven’t stayed at the same B & B more than once because each time we’ve been disappointed. In each case, it hasn’t quite lived up to it’s promise.
And the interesting thing is that the “failed promise” has been the SAME in each case.
So what have all these B & B’s failed in?
Well, let’s take the place we stayed at last weekend.
We walked in and were immediately impressed by the design, layout and “newness” of the place. Everything was perfect. I especially loved the big hot tub overlooking the valley. In fact, I loved it so much that I could, in fact, see ourselves returning again. However, by the next morning, we were both adamant that we would NOT stay there again.
So what went wrong? What was the broken promise that this place had, as well as all the others, broken?
It’s the promise that ALL hotels, motels, guest houses and B & Bs make.
It’s the “benefit” they typically DON’T talk about in their sales materials… and that YOU, as the customer, often don’t even think about yourself.
In fact, this promise was not even on OUR minds when we chose this latest B & B to stay at.
We NEVER even thought about it…
Until it wasn’t fulfilled.
What was it?
It was: a good night’s sleep!
That’s right… a good night’s sleep!
And in this case, as in ALL the other cases, a cheap bed made it impossible for us to get a good night’s sleep.
Now maybe we’re a little picky… but we’re also very loyal… We’re the type of customers who WILL come back again and again if we’re happy with the product and service. (After all, every other place we visited at Daylesford we had visited numerous times before.)
The type of customers (that 20%) who account for 80% of a business’ sales and profits. The type of customers YOU would want to please and nurture in YOUR business.
So my question to you is:
What is the “unspoken promise” you make to your BEST customers?
What is the promise that your MOST LOYAL customers expect you to keep above all other things?
It may NOT be obvious. It may actually be ASSUMED by both you and your loyal customers. And it may not be the same promise that your “one off” customers expect you to keep.
For example, in our example, a “one off” customer may have cared more about “price” than a good night’s sleep.
But it’s the loyal customers who make for a ongoing, successful business. So it’s the promise you knowingly or unknowingly make to them that counts.
So how do you find out what this promise is? We’ll talk about that tomorrow!
