Developing key talent

How to alienate loyal customers

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A favorite restaurant is an exemplar at using email and social media for customer retention. They send weekly customer appreciation 1/2-price deals to their email list and Facebook fans.

For years, they’ve had a loyalty card where you’d get one punch for every $10 purchase. You then submitted completed cards for free food.

Recently, they switched to a plastic card that is swiped for every purchase. You can check online to see your accumulated points.

Additionally, you got a $10 certificate if you visited the restaurant 5 times with the first 5 weeks of the card’s activation. Since I frequent the restaurant about once a week, this would be easy for me.

However, I ran into two problems.

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You may have more influence than you think

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Sometimes we go about our business and don’t think about if others are paying attention or not. Generally, not many people notice us or our behaviors. But sometimes we’re being observed and, unbeknownst to us, admired. We are unwitting role models. Or even held to a higher status than we believe we have.
 
This became apparent from a brief conversation I had during my recent speaking tour in Turkey. In between engagements, I hung out at my friend Tamer Ozdemir’s English Test School in Eskisehir. I got to know the English teachers there, including a young Turkish man named Aykuk. After a week of visiting with him and his students and his hearing of my speaking engagements in Turkey and beyond, we had this exchange:

A cup of coffee lasts 40 years

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Rebecca Morgan quote
Photo: Rebecca Morgan, Capadoccia, Turkey

 

In many countries it’s common to be invited for a cup of coffee or tea as a way of extending hospitality. I hadn’t fully understood the implications of this gesture until a recent speaking tour in Turkey.

I’d just given a 90-minute speech to 200+ members of the Eskisehir Chamber of Commerce. The Chamber president, Harun Karacan, a charming, successful businessman who spoke no English, invited me and my local host and friend, Tamer, to his office for coffee. His invitation was followed by this Turkish saying which his aide-de-camp, Arda, translated for me:

“In Turkey, a cup of coffee can last 40 years.”

In other words, Arda explained, when we share a cup of coffee, we develop a relationship that can last for many decades.

I nodded showing my understanding.

There was only one problem.

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Are your people ambassadors for your company?

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Anyone can create a memorable experience for another at any time — whether at work or not. When they do, they are not only representing themselves, but their gender, race, age group, culture, city, state, or even country.If they are wearing your logo-wear or mention they work for you, they also represent your company.

I’ve created programs to help staff shift to ambassador-like thinking. But it starts with people who are already focused on going above and beyond in whatever they are doing or encounter.

Here are a few examples of everyday ambassadors creating a memorable experience for me during a recent trip to the city of Eskisehir, Turkey.

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