Alvin was walking towards the train station when he saw a smartly dressed young man approached by an elderly man for road direction.
The young man pointed to the far distance in front while guiding him. The elderly man looked confused. Alvin stopped and asked where is the elderly man going to. Before the elderly man finished telling the address, the young man interrupted and said to him, "I'm sorry I do not work around this area," and walked off. Alvin showed the elderly man where is the location of the building, the color, any landmark on the building and the fastest way to get there. He went on to ask which office or shop the elderly man was going to make sure that the address is correct. What's the difference between Alvin and the young man? Is the reason that the young man is not working there and therefore not familiar with the place valid? Was he in a rush? Or he couldn't be bothered to help? Could he have taken out his smart phone and google for the address? Or he does not carry one and thus was unable to. Or does he see giving road direction to a lost person is a waste of his time? One that does not benefit him in any way? When was the last time you visited Starbucks? I was at one of its outlet in the Central Business District (CBD) yesterday. The building in which this outlet is located houses the headquarters of some of the world's biggest fund managers and corporations. Many of the people working here are very well dressed. Sharp tailored power suits, branded handbags and jewelries, watches that costs from a few thousands grand to tens of thousands, Mont Blanc pens hanging on the men shirts' pockets, Cartier organizers (is there one?). One would assumes that paying $8 for a cup of coffee at Starbucks is no sweat for most of the people here. Now, what's special about this outlet was this. As much as I try to recall, I do not remember seeing it at any other outlets with this sticker.
Would you believe this? Is Starbucks trying to make coming to Starbucks more fun? Is this a test on human behavior? Did they put it there knowing very well that no one will ask them about it? Of course, most of the people who see it will just dismiss it as a gimmick, a teaser or something that's not true. And you can bet that there will be a lot of regular customers who don't even see it day in day out. However, the thought just strike me, "What if someone actually walks up to the staff and ask them to buy him a drink?" How will the staff react? The next thought that came to me was, "Has anyone actually tried asking?" If the sticker is a teaser for something, what would it be? So the naughty me decides to put it to the test. I took a photo of it and walked to the staff at the counter. "Hi, I saw this outside your door and would like to find if this is true?" I flipped my phone and showed it to the lady. She looked at it and flustered. She quickly called her manager and showed her the photo. The manager came and explained to me that this is actually for their Starbucks card loyalty program where you get a free drink after clocking 10 cups of purchase. Aha! So that is what the sticker is all about. After leaving the place, it dawned on me that my second question has not been answered. Has anyone actually tried asking? Perhaps there was and they all got the same answer as I did. What if the manager turns the whole incident into a conversation? If I'm indeed the first person ever to ask her, isn't she curious why I did what I did? While the sticker actually refers to their loyalty program, what if she decides to reward me with a free drink for being the first ever to ask? What positive experience will I have about Starbucks culture and experience? What if she turns this into a story and share it with the rest of the customers? If I'm not the first to ask, does she has a story to share with me? Perhaps telling me I'm too late while showing me a photo of the first person who asked and then offering me a drink at half price. What if you could create an experience for your customers? John was jogging along a canal when he noticed a person standing facing the wall of an emergency exit of an underground tunnel.
A little girl, about 5 year-old, was standing further away looking at the man's direction. On closer look, he realized that the man was peeing. As the man was peeing, he turned his head towards the girl and talking with her. After he had finished, he came down the steps and the girl went up, removed her shorts, squatted down and pee-ed in the same spot. Oh my God. The public toilet is just a walk down the row of stalls. Was he too lazy or too urgent to walk there? Was he trying to save the 10 cents entrance fee? Was the toilet too dirty? The little girl actually did what he did. How long and often has she been doing it? Does she know what she is doing? Perhaps she's still young and did not realize it. How will she think and feel when she's older? What other habits is she learning from the adult? And did the man learn this from his father? A manager always asks his supervisors for ideas and suggestions. She asks them for their opinions and what they think and feel about certain issues. It looks as if the manager is being open and adopts a consultative management style. In the end, she will decides to go with her own ideas every time. Another manager assigned a staff to arrange for a corporate event. However, every little details needs to be approved by her. From the wordings of an invitation to color of the card, from the menu to the flower arrangement. Perhaps it's a major event and she wants to make sure that everything runs smoothly. However, is her behavior indirectly causing the staff to be reliant on her? What habits do you have that you do not realize? A man was given an opportunity to take up a new position in another department.
He thought a change of environment could be good for him since he has been feeling restless recently. He agreed and the manager proceeded with the arrangement for the crossover and getting a replacement for his current position. Two weeks later, the man regretted making the decision in a haste. He feels burned out and what he really wants is to take a break from work totally. A change of environment probably is not the best solution. And if he were to take up the new position in a wrong state of mind, he is unlikely to perform well and will be a discredit to both parties. So he went into his manager's office and told him about what he actually wanted. "You're so irresponsible," the manager blurted out loudly immediately. The manager is angry over the man's change of mind, which probably put him in a difficult position. He needs to answer to his boss and the other department for recommending this man in the first place. And the man's decision to take a break is going to disrupt the department's operations. The man also knew that it's his fault for retracting his earlier decision. However, instead of going over and continue feeling burned out which ultimately affects his performance, he took the courage to express what he actually feels and wants, even if he knows he is in the wrong. When the manager has cool down and think back, isn't what the man does in the best interest of the whole situation? Shouldn't he be glad of his subordinate who is willing to stand up and say he has made a wrong decision? How many times have we made a wrong decision and keep quiet about it? A group of staff was brainstorming for gift ideas for their clients in the coming year.
For the past few years, clients received a series of specially commissioned art pieces. The idea came from the CEO. The intention is to get the customers to continue doing business with the company so that they can collect the whole series of art pieces. More importantly, when the customers stay with them and as long as they stay with them, they can charge higher prices in the coming years. Unfortunately, its customers do not think likewise. In fact, there were quite a few customers who flatly turned down the yearly gift. "No need to send me the gift," one exclaimed. "What's the use of sending this to us?" another asked. For the more diplomatic customers, they'll probably accept it graciously but wonder what the hell they are going to do with that. Of course, there will be a few who genuinely appreciate the gift and the artwork. So most of the staff are against doing another series of artwork as gift this time round based on the responses they got while delivering the gifts to their customers. Someone raised the idea of conducting a survey to collect feedback on how many customers actually do not like the gift. A man said, "What's the use of asking the customers? We've already feedback the responses when we delivered the gifts. And if you ask them, will you get an honest answer? And even if the feedback are negative, will the CEO listen?" While the gift was presented as a token of appreciation, the customers already know what the CEO is thinking. Just the other day, there was an article on a bank redesigning their branch so that customers need to go into the branch to complete certain transactions, which gives its sales staff the opportunity to sell their investment products. Some businesses dangle some freebies outside their shop and hand them over to passerby. The moment you take it, they will start a conversation and try to get you in to see a demonstration and then sell you their products. I'm sorry but I'm not interested. And the next time I pass by these shops, I'll walk on the other side. A man needs to buy a gift for his business client who will be in town in a few days time.
He had bought something from a cafe recently and thought it would makes a nice gift. So off he goes to the cafe only to be told the item was sold out due to the festive season. He asked the staff when the new stocks will arrive and was told it's not confirmed. He asked if the item is still available at other outlets and was told he could try going down. He went to another cafe the next day and got the same reply that there's no stock. One of his friend knew about this and offered to get it for him at one of the outlets in the suburban shopping mall he will be passing by over the weekend. That Saturday's morning, his friend arrived at the outlet at 10am and saw that the cafe will only opens one hour later. He didn't have the time to wait till then as he has other things to settle. Just then, he saw a lady at the counter and approached her for help. It turned out that this outlet has stock of the item. He asked if he could make the purchase now and was told by the lady that the cafe is not opened yet. She asked him to come back at 11am. And despite the friend telling her that he is rushing for time and wouldn't be able to come back again, she just shrugged her shoulder with the look that there's nothing much she could do and insisted that he comes back one hour later. Why did the lady turn away a customer ready to hand over his cold hard cash? Did she do it out of revenge against the company? Was she unable to complete the sale because the point-of-sale system is not ready? Was she trained to follow the procedure so well that she cannot do anything differently? Why couldn't she make the sale and do the paperwork later (keying order into system and sending receipt to the person)? |
AuthorOutrageous Marketing Archives
May 2020
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