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• Luke Skywalker customer service

What’s that little extra touch a store can provide? You know! The one that causes you to come back – again and again?

I experienced one this week. And it concerns tires. I’m one who believes in going to a tire place, when I have a tire problem. Forget the dealerships! Throw away the full-service auto mechanics shop. Give me a place devoted

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to tires. In Illinois, it would be either Just Tires or Discount Tires.

The new free touch is offered by Discount Tires. I don’t know if this is isolated to the local shop, or if it’s part of their national marketing. But they have one service bay open. There’s a sign that says, “free air check – 3 minutes,” or something to that effect.

So I’m eating lunch at the local Chinese, strip mall eating establishment. The weather is getting colder. I need to check the tires. When I exit the restaurant, guess what? There’s the sign~Jeff Foxworthy (i.e. comedian) style.

I pulled into the bay and they checked my tires – all in 3 minutes, as promised.

They rock! Not that Discount Tires is my favorite tire place. I actually like Just Tires better. But they made a dent in me, with this little extra, customer service touch.

They get an A from me for Customer Service

Darth Vader customer service

Then there’s the Taco Bell. Not just any Taco Bell – but a specific one. One off of Route 64, near where I live. I won’t mention who they are. But they are next to an abandoned Harris bank building.

Let me diverge a second. Harris Bank is owned by a Canadian bank, so they are less effected by this recession.

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And they are better equipped to loan to small business.

But enough. Back to this Taco Bell. Most Taco Bells have peppermints you can eat. They are great for after dinner mouth refreshing. You find them at most counter.

There are also napkin dispensers. You can obtain all the napkins you want. But not at the one near the abandoned Harris Bank building. They hand you a measly napkin, when they take your order. And there’s not a peppermint in site.

They get an F from me for customer service. And this business is very close to the Discount Tire place mentioned earlier.

Both Luke Skywalker and Darth Vader started small

In the examples of Discount Tires and Taco Bell (i.e. a particular facility), it’s the small touch that entices me towards, or away, from the facility.  Let’s examine some quotes on small things:

• A small leak can sink a great ship ~ Benjamin Franklin
• All good work is done the way ants do things, little by little. ~ Lafcadio Hearn
• All great things are only a number of small things that have carefully been collected together. ~ Anonymous
• Do little things now; so shall big things come to thee by and by asking to be done. ~ Persian Proverb
• A mighty flame followeth a tiny spark. ~ Dante (Alighieri)

How about a small virus check, attachment tip?  There’s a service called Virus Total.  You can use this tip at Virus Total Email Attachment Tip.

Let me share a couple blog post responses on other blogs.

A response to a blogger’s post on story telling.

I really like this post today. Perhaps because it’s a bit deeper than the usual XXX post.

Getting the little guy hooked is what clever marketers and copywriters attempt to do. A classic line runs something like this: “Everyone laughed at me, until I sat down to play the piano.” It’s a classic ad and made much money.

I like the fact you write short stories and a novel. Stories are integrated into good marketing materials. If you learn and perfect the art of fictional or non-fictional story telling, it helps you to better craft marketing material. I learned this from being a COD creative writing student, before I started writing marketing materials.

The story matters, as you correctly point out.

I liked the fact you were also a guinea pig. And you had to do the work. Reminds me of me learning internet marketing, via the free XXX (I can’t mention it here, but it’s a challenge you can complete in 30 days).

I’m going to have to visit these summit links you mentioned. It’s probably very good, with all great speakers.

If I was to grade your presentation today, I would give you an A+.

A response to a blogger’s post on emotional appeal

Much of what we buy today is based upon emotional appeal. People buy for different emotional needs, which the skilled marketer needs to tap into – be it greed, fear, etc.

Often, the skilled marketing writer will paint picture stories, putting the reader into the story. Image how this car will make you feel more important, with a better sense of class status, etc. This is often coupled with product benefit approaches.

Know your audience! You alluded to this in your post. Much of this depends on research. Perhaps surveying customers, hanging around forums where you target audience is, etc.

You know what the most important point is (in my opinion)? Cultivating customers for the long hall. I won’t buy any products on-line, where the company is flagged by the “Web of Trust” (i.e. Google for more info), or has a bad Better Business Bureau rating. Companies out for the long hall will try to satisfy customers for repeat future purchases.

“There is only one boss. The customer. And he can fire everybody in the company …simply by spending his money somewhere else.”~Sam Walton

I should add a note here. A few days ago, I saw an ABC news clip entitled, “BBB Wants Money For Rating.” If you query Google for “abc news bbb,” you will find it. It’s too early to tell of BBB is doing anything wrong, but I’ll be watching future story updates.

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• Inspired by the Dark Side of the Force: Darth Vader Variations (noupe.com)
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Filed under: Marketing, Technology | Tagged: Anakin Skywalker, Customer Service, Harris Bank, Jeff Foxworthy, Luke Skywalker, Sam Walton, Star Wars, Taco Bell, Tire | 1 Comment »