Although the teller was cheerful and pleasant with this statement, my first thought was “UGH – I hate canned greetings, closings, etc.!”  They’re just not personal and it’s always about the company and not about the customer.

Once the teller clerk was free, she greeted me with a warm smile, “Hi – how are you today?” & “How Can I Help You?”.  As she was processing the deposit, she said “I see you’re a Hero today”.  I looked at her puzzled and said “What?”.  She said “Your Sweatshirt says you’re a Hero”.

I looked down and, sure enough, my red sweatshirt that says “Cherokee” on the front was covered by my jacket and all you saw was “Hero”.  We both had a laugh about not even thinking that the word hero was in cherokee and I joked about now needing to find a cape and go save the world – no pressure!  She ended with “Is There Anything Else I Can Help You With Today, Anne Marie?” and “I Hope You Have A Great Weekend!”

How different were these two tellers at the same bank?  Do you think the customer that went through the drive-thru called their friends/family to say “Hey!  Did you know that ________ is glad that I do business with them and ________ appreciates my business and wants me to have a nice day?”

When I got in my car to leave the bank I called my husband and told him “Hey, did you know I’m a Hero today?”  To which he replied “You’re my hero every day baby!” (Great answer and that’s why he’s THE MAN!)  I told him the story and he said he would start going to that branch instead of our normal branch from now on.  I then went to the store where, I normally like to think that I try to be cheerful and helpful as I go through my day, but found myself feeling “extra” cheerful and helpful to those around me.  I FELT like a hero.  All because of a small conversation with a bank teller from something that she observed, rather than her just giving me a canned sales greeting/closing.

That’s what I hope that everyone in our industry learns and appreciates – the tremendous power we have to influence the customers that we interact with on a daily basis.  It’s that extra effort to make a personal conversation rather than the canned salesman blah.

What can your teams do every day to make your customers feel like “Heroes”?

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-Anne Marie

Why Your Worst Clients Should Still Get Your Best Service

Have you been giving all of your customers your best service, regardless of their response or attitude?

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-Anne Marie

Miracle on the Social Media Street

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-Anne Marie

1.    Breakfast Commercial: Instead of going out to breakfast for $5 you could eat at home for $2.  By eating at home just 1x per week,a family of four could save $880/year.  Save Money . . . Live Better.  Wal-Mart.

2.    Party Commercial: You’re having a party and you could drive all over town getting supplies or you could get them all in one stop – at Wal-Mart.  Saving Money, Time, and Gas?  Now That’s something to celebrate!  Save Money . . . Live Better.  Wal-Mart.

3.    Grocery Shopping Commercial: Let’s say you spend $100/Week at the supermarket on these kinds of items.  If you bought these kinds of groceries at Wal-Mart, you could save on average over $700/year.  What could you do with all that money?  Save Money . . . Live Better.  Wal-Mart.

4.    Lunch Saver Commercial: By bringing your lunch 2x per week, you can save an average of $500 per year.  Save Money . . . Live Better.  Wal-Mart.

5.    Recent In-Store Benefit Commercial: Woman clerk in Wal-Mart goes around greeting individual customers and pointing out feature-benefit items they could purchase in the store to make their life/activities even better.  Save Money . . . Live Better.  Wal-Mart.

On Wal-Mart’s www.SaveMoneyLiveBetter.com website:

• They  have an ongoing $$ counter which shows how much money Wal-Mart has saved American families since January 1st, 2009.
• Customers can add their own savings stories of what they could do with the money they save by shopping at Wal-Mart.
• Customers can add why they love shopping at Wal-Mart.
• Describes Sam Walton’s statement “There’s Only One Boss.  The Customer.” and his belief in saving the customers money so that they can live better.

This is a great training example for this economy and how we need to point out the money savings benefit that we provide our customers when they choose our communities for their new Home:

1.    How much gas can your residents save by living in your community?  It’s not enough to say “If you lived here you’d be home now”.  They need to see a $ sign associated with a location.  How close is the nearest grocery store, gym, school, library, pet vet/groomer, pharmacy, etc.?  You could calculate an “average” $ saved/year by not having to drive too far for these places (especially if some of your competitors are farther away and less convenient).  If you have larger employers in the area, maybe put together a cost savings sheet by location for employees of those companies “If You Relocate From “x” Area, You’d Save $/Year in Gas Just Going To/From Work”.

2.    Don’t have a fireplace?  Calculate an average $/year saved by not having their heating and a/c leaking through the chimney.

3.    Fitness Center?  Calculate the $ saved/year in fitness center club dues and possibly add in the savings in overall improved health.  Find a study that shows the average medical costs associated with poor health –vs- being healthier, here is just a couple of examples:

http://www.dartmouthatlas.org/

http://abcnews.go.com/Health/Healthday/story?id=8184975&page=1&page=1

4.    Accept packages?  Calculate the $ saved/year in not having to go to the post office, Fed-Ex, UPS, etc. to pick up a missed package.  Possibly calculate based on 1 package/month, quarter, etc.

5.    Food – Of course, everyone has a kitchen, but we need to explain this like Wal-Mart, point out the $/year they could save by cooking meals in their new apartment home.  Maybe even include a new cookware set to start them off and a cookbook (which you can get very inexpensive at Wal-Mart) J

6.    Utilities – It’s not enough any more to say “Energy-Efficient” because everyone says that.  Check out the energy-savings listed on the side of your HVAC, water heaters, heat pumps, etc. and calculate a $/year savings for the customer.  Also calculate out a $/year if you have those 5% electric company discounts so they can see what that really means to the budget.

7.    Car Wash – Calculate $/year saved compared to going to the local do-it-yourself car wash, as well as the full service car wash areas.  Customers might be surprised how much money they can save on alone.

8.    Coffee Bar – Just like Wal-Mart, calculate $/year they could save –vs- going out to StarBucks, McDonalds, Dunkin Donuts, etc.

Let’s help our customers to “Save Money . . . Live Better” when they choose our communities as their new Home.

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Anne Marie

What My Five-Year-Old Son Taught Me About Marketing

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ams

Papa John’s Pizza had been pushing a Free pizza promotion on Facebook.  For everyone that clicked to follow them on Facebook, effective today you can go to their website, enter your email address, and receive the promotion code for their “Free” medium pizza.  However, what Customers find when they get there is that it’s not actually “Free” – but only good with a $10 online order.

Really?

Some people might think that it’s only pizza – so what’s the big deal?

The big deal is the 1st sentence.  Don’t advertise, hint towards, or give the impression for something that you don’t actually (or don’t intend) to deliver – especially in this economy. The backlash can be brutal – just see PapaJohn’s customer comments for this promotion:

Are we truly delivering what we promote to our customers?

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-ams