A FEEL GOOD PLACE | WARM FUZZIES
Merriam-Webster Dictionary
WARM FUZZIES| feelings of happiness, contentment, or sentimentality
The feeling a customer experiences when they walk into your center should be much like going home to family! Give your customers a good feeling…a warm fuzzy! Show your customers a little love. The first temptation to make the customer feel good is to offer discounts to them. Yes, most customers love discounts but there are many other ways to make your customer feel good that doesn’t involve discounts or freebies. Remember too many discounts and freebies can devalue your product!
Make it a point to give each and every customer a warm fuzzy! Customers want to feel good about spending their hard earned money at your facility. They are looking for the little personal touches that make their experience special for them. They want to feel they are appreciated, loved and respected as a customer.
The customer experience should be filled with personal touches. Get to know your customers personally; greet them by name when they enter or leave, discover their birthdate, remember what they like (and don’t like), their shoe size, what their lane preferences are. Strike up a conversation and get to know a little about who they are. Getting to know and keep up with your customers is simple with Frequent Bowler Tracker (FBT) which makes it easy to record and access customer information and even see what they look like. This makes you look like a superstar for “remembering” the details so well. Making notes of interesting details about your customer in FBT also makes it easy to make a personal connection in the future.
So how can you create that warm fuzzy feeling your customer is looking for? Here are a few examples:
Create Memorable Experiences: Customers crave memorable and unique experiences and since most of what they see on a daily basis is mediocre, if you create a memorable experience, they will talk endlessly about it.
Provide Extreme Customer Service: Everyone wants to feel like a king (or a queen) and when they pay with their hard earned money, they expect that you treat them like one. Find your level of “knock your socks off” customer service that will have customers stopping in more often and wanting to stay longer because the center is a “feel good place” with extraordinary service.
Don’t be Afraid to Tell Them They Are Special! What do you do when you love someone? You want to tell the world how special that person is to you.
So tell the world about your customers and how special they are to you by giving them some public attention. When a customer has a personal accomplishment (on the lanes or off) feature them on the center website or Facebook page. You can even create a Signature Welcome Screen or Scoring Grid for their next visit. At the very least, you can scroll a Congratulations message across their lanes.
Say Thanks and Mean It! Saying thanks is a guaranteed way to bring a smile to anyone’s face: Thank them in a way that shows you really appreciate having them as your customer.
It only takes a few seconds to send a customer a personal thank you note for the confidence they have placed in you for choosing your center for their entertainment needs. Send an e-mail a few days after their event or to really create a warm fuzzy, mail them an old-fashioned handwritten note. It’s a thing of the past and will make a lasting impression. If you really want to knock the ball out of the park, tuck a $5.00 Starbucks gift card into the envelope with a handwritten note stating Thanks a latte’ for your business!
Don’t Forget About Them So They Don’t Forget About You! Customers are busy juggling work, family, school and many other things in their daily lives but don’t let them be out of sight, out of mind. Don’t let them forget about you and your center.
Staying in touch with customers can help retain their patronage. However, don’t just stay in touch; get personal about it. Remember them on their birthday by sending them a special email or even an actual birthday card.
Treat Them with Responsive Respect: Be mindful of your customer’s time! There’s nothing worse than being put on hold and hearing a poor quality recording say, “Your call is important to us.” Well, nothing is worse except waiting over 20 minutes for a live person to get you off hold!
When customers get in touch with you, respect them, and respond to them no matter who they are. Every customer is just as important as “the owner’s friend” so don’t just respond to those you think you will hear about if you don’t respond.
Responding to customers in a personal way is rare these days and when it happens will create a pleasant memory. Doing so builds loyalty and fond thoughts in the minds of your customers so they remember you and your center for a long time.
Exceeding the customer’s expectations doesn’t have to cost a fortune. It’s really quite simple! Be responsive, flexible, have a friendly attitude, pleasant manners and always wear a smile!
Show Your Support: Show support for important causes and occasions. This couldn’t be easier with MMS Ads. Thank you customer at Thanksgiving, show your support for those who serve our Country, or let them know you will never forget September 11, 2001. Showing the customer you support a cause that is special to them as well, creates good rapport.
With September 11th rapidly approaching, show your customers you and your center will never forget the tragedy. Click here for a MMS Ad and Facebook Post to show your continued support. MMS Ads are an inexpensive and quick way to show you care. Take a minute out of your day and upload the Facebook Post and show the center’s social media fans that the center cares and the same things that they care about.
Remember to take the time to make your customer feel good. It doesn’t cost anything to give them a warm fuzzy except a little extra effort! The results will be both emotionally and financially rewarding!
© 2015 QubicaAMF