My wife was recently invited out for a brunch with some of her friends down at the local golf club. Lou has some quite specific dietary constraints, so she called the golf club and told them that she could be coming down the next day and asked what there was on the menu that she could eat. There was no point in her going down just to watch others eat. The staff member at the golf club took her number and said that they would call her back to let her know what was suitable.
Did she hear from them? No. Did she go to the brunch? No.
Would she go to the golf club to eat? Why would she? Could she recommend the food to her friends? How can she?
Contrast this experience with another experience. We had a dinner in Melbourne’s CBD at a super restaurant called The Press Club. It’s a very popular fine dining restaurant and you have to book months in advance. Here’s what happened when we got there.
The maître d’hôtel welcomed us and noted that Lou had some dietary issues (because Lou had casually mentioned them when she booked it a few months earlier). The maître d’hôtel said that the waiter would help her choose the right meal.
After some sensational pre-dinner drinks at ‘The Little Press‘ we were ushered to our table and a waiter arrived and proceeded to take us through the menu. Without being prompted the waiter took Lou what she could have and suggested adjustments they could make to the ingredients in the meals so she could have that particular entrée or main. Lou gratefully accepted the advice and ordered the modified meals. The food was amazing, the service just that right kind of attentive and not snobby (which I don’t like at fancy dining restaurants).
We’ve told friends, family, co-workers about our exceptional experience at The Press Club. I posted photos on my social media channels of my meal raving about it. We’ve even cooked the food when we have had friends over for dinner.
Now how much business do you think the golf club has had because of our word of mouth referral? How much business do you think The Press Club have had because we are mad raving fans after having a fantastic night there?
We’ve told numerous people and we know for a fact that they have eaten there and had the same experience, no doubt they too have told others about their experience.
This simple act of follow-up from the golf club would have only cost around 40 cents in a phone call, but it has cost them hundreds of dollars in free powerful word of mouth marketing that could have led to more sales.
The Press Club Restaurant no doubt will have benefited from thousands of dollars in revenue from one recommendation because each person in the organisation did what they were supposed to do. Their experience is one that I will never forget and hope to return to. Oh wait, that’s more revenue for them. And I blogged about them!
All because they delivered.
You don’t have to be a great restaurant to create a wow brand experience. Any church, non-profit or business simply has to follow-up, be service minded to help create an exceptional experience. It takes many people to create that experience, and only one person to blow it.
Have you ever had a great experience you’ve told others about? Please share your thoughts below.
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