Marketing Basics: Thank Youuuuuuuu!

Okay, look to your right….

Okay, not that far to your right!  Just a bit…and you’ll see the sign up box for the weekly email newsletter.

Now, here’s why you should sign up…

“Thank Youuuuuuuu!” – Brenda Leigh Johnson, The Closer

Well my favorite show is coming back next week and I thought I’d use her characteristically famous tag line to ask you a most important question…

“When was the last time you said Thank You?”

Seriously.

This week’s 10 Minute Marketing Motivator was about the simple act of telling your customers “Thank You”.  Over the last day I really began to think about it.

And then, today, a customer stopped by with a six-pack of beer, for my partner Dan and a box of Sprinkles cupcakes for me.  Just to say thanks.  And here’s the thing, it was for something we do for free for all of our customers.  It’s something that other shops like ours charge $100 to $300 for.  Something that we do because our customer’s extended experience is extremely important to us so we feel therefore, it is a necessary service.

Talk about turning the tables!  Monday I said, “thank your customers”.  Tuesday, the customer thanked me!

The Gory Details

Here’s the story, and I’m going to tell you up front why I’m sharing the story…context.  And, because the idea here is to make marketing simple, I’m going to show you why it can be so very, very simple.

About two weeks ago I received a call from an existing customer.  Ninety percent of our customers at Exotic Motorwerks are incredible which makes our work so great and this customer was no exception.  She needed a vehicle and she needed one rather quickly.  She had decided upon a BMW SUV and asked if we would inspect it for her before purchase.

Even though we are a Porsche specialty shop, when existing customers come to us requesting help with other makes and models we oblige when we can.  A BMW is familiar so we said, “No problemo, bring it over.”  She brought the vehicle over for a used-car pre-purchase inspection.

Unless there are special circumstances, these types of inspections are free.  We don’t charge for them, but it didn’t start out that way.  When we were first in business we charged because all the auto shop guru’s told us we had to.  After having a few customers buy used cars and then end up spending a whole bunch of cash in our shop repairing them and not enjoying their new-to-them cars…we stopped charging.  It was just so much more important for them to be excited about their new-to-them cars that we decided we could have a hand in that by making sure they got a good car at the start.

So this BMW was not a good choice at all.  She had been told that certain work had been done but it was in serious need of maintenance and repair.  It was leaking coolant when she arrived which would have left her stranded had she bought it and begun driving it in our very hot weather.  We decided it wasn’t the right BMW for her.

The following Monday I went online and found a comparable vehicle, called the dealership for her, told them I was a shop and wanted to inspect the vehicle for my customer.  They were happy to do so.  We all met at the dealership and Dan crawled all around looking for any issues.  Well, she took the paperwork home and by the time she returned the next day they had sold it.  I started the search again.  But the dealer called and said that they had another vehicle they thought would work out for her and asked if we could take a look at it.  I was impressed with the service we were getting so we jammed over to look at the car.  It was perfect.  From there, with paperwork done, she was able to finalize the deal and she was in the BMW today when she dropped off the box of cupcakes and beer.

The first vehicle she brought for inspection needed $1,200 in immediate repair work, the last needed nothing.  They were priced the same.  And this past weekend she made a 200 mile trip to see her niece without one issue.  Is that cool or what?!

So why the cupcakes and beer?

Why show up to thank us for something we do for free anyway?

The same reason you should thank your customers.  Sure they give you money and you give them value.  But they have a choice.  Whether or not you are the best at what you do, they’ve made the choice to support ‘you’ and your business.

I’d say that’s worth a card, some ink and a stamp.

When was the last time someone thanked you for doing business with them?  You probably don’t remember because it probably hasn’t happened.  Who knew that helping someone find a great car for free would be so…remarkable?  So we had to look at three…I’d look at 10, because the feeling you get when you see them enjoying it is payment enough…in fact, it’s overpriced!  Now if that’s not simple marketing…