Customer Retention Outside the Box

I read an interesting piece today by Australian business consultant Peter Shallard, called Repeat Business and Customer Retention Formula Revealed.

He talks about a coffee shop in Sydney that, in addition to serving good coffee in a timely manner (a baseline for any coffee shop), had Polaroid snapshots all over the walls.  The photos are all of dogs, all taken in the cafe, with each pup's name written on the bottom.  Mr. Shallard then looked around at the other patrons, and estimated that 80% of them had dogs with them!  This is when the light bulb went on for him.

This cafe, one of many within the area, had built a loyal clientele by providing a good product with good service, and then combined that with another, unrelated, aspect that many customers were drawn to. 

To Mr. Shallard, and to me, this is brilliant in it simplicity.  For almost any product or service being sold, there are no doubt dozens, if not hundreds of other competitors selling the same thing.  Quality, price, service, and locale may not be enough to win a customer's loyalty.  But combining a business' primary product with another unrelated (but interesting) concept may seal the deal for certain customers to whom that unrelated concept appeals.

I imagine this was the thinking behind the first sports bar.  People get thirsty and hungry, so let's open an establishment to provide them beverages and food.  But wait, many people like sports, too, so lets decorate the place with sports memorabilia, and put a bunch of strategically-placed TVs throughout, showing sporting events or sports-related programming! Genius!

So, let's look at our own businesses.  We all work hard to provide a quality product and great service.  But what else can we add to that, that will appeal to a significant segment of our buying audience?  It doesn't have to be big, expensive, or complicated.  Polaroid snapshots of dogs on the wall - hello?

This is a great way to increase customer loyalty and retention, and have fun while doing it!  What a concept!  What can you add to your business to lock in loyalty from a significant segment of your prospects?  Please comment and share your ideas, and feel free to link to your site!

Comments

[London Hotels]

Thank for sharing your idea. This is what we have to all consider it. I just came back from London through flight via LMT.

[Peter Shallard]

Your dead right - this is something we all need to consider. Next article should be about viral idea-sharing in twitter... thanks for sharing great ideas to a wider audience!

Peter Shallard