Yoga classes at the grocery store?
It sounds like a weird idea.
But some supermarkets are making a play to transform themselves into a place where customers will want to hang out rather than just pick up groceries and go straight home.
And they’re getting creative with the idea.
Some of them are offering fitness classes, wine bars, facials, child care, and even putting greens, to lure customers away from online stores.
It’s all part of a strategy to make the grocery store a social destination by creating experiences that can’t be had online.
It makes you wonder …
Is this a smart idea? Or is it taking experiential marketing to the point of the absurd?
That’s what we seek to answer in this episode. Join us for the conversation (and quite a few laughs).
Episode highlights:
We cover a wide array of topics today all centralized in the end around the customer experience. It's something we've been consistently addressing on our show, and today you'll find some solid examples for your nimble business.
How do you greet your customer after disruption? Are you building new tech opportunities like 3-D printing or an Espresso Book Machine for those who want to self-publish on demand?
This episodes centers around the cool things independent book retailer, Shakespeare & Co., is doing. John Gregory Olson and Jayme Soulati jump start the conversation with this neat bookstore story and catapult (see that? jump start and catapult) the conversation into business models, customer experience, creating loyal customers, and understanding what customers need.
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Tory Sport Exemplifies the New Customer Experience
In this episode of The Heart of Marketing, John Gregory Olson and Jayme Soulati share some stories about their own customer experiences that resonate with value, emotion, and making someone feel special.
Jayme was recently a guest at the Grand Hyatt--Washington, DC for a global summit. As she social media-zed her experience in pictures and posted on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and Foursquare, the Grand Hyatt was right there saying thanks. Then, a bowl of chips, dip and waters arrived in Jayme's room with a hand-written note of thanks. Can you guess how that made Jayme feel?
Yes, special. And, that's what Tory Burch Sport is doing in NYC -- shaking up the customer experience with a run-way feel in the store and a spa-like relaxed setting for customers to have a seat, speak with designers, have a beverage, and talk style. For its first non-line store experience, Tory Sport is approaching customers drastically different -- on purpose.
How can your business get in this groove? You do know that 'customer experience' is the new marketing buzzword, right? Well, we've talked all about this in Episode 55 on Experiential Marketing, with Trader Joe's and Grocers get local in Dayton, Ohio, too.
The thread that ties it all up in a bow is value, emotion, feeling, and heartfulness. Can you make your customer feel heartful? What do we mean by that, anyway? Listen in, and you'll soon understand what John and I mean. We couldn't resist bringing this story to you because even the Wall Street Journal is getting with the program and featuring Tory Burch Sport and customer experience.
Ahh, that always-headline-bait 'dead' thing everyone likes to toss out works, right? When you listen to The Heart of Marketing with Adam Toporek, author of 'Be Your Customer's Hero,' and podcaster on 'Crack the Customer Code,' he said so, for realz.
And, then he didn't.
Just because a Customer Service Expert says customer service is dead you need to listen twice and read more to ensure that someone isn't joking around, like Adam, the jokester.
Customer service is an investment, and the reason it may seem dead to many is due to the fact that there are bigger monopolies and consolidations in industries (again) and the largest corporations don't have the competition that requires them to invest in customer service and play nice with we who pay their bills.
Adam says that customer service is also a great equalizer. It allows the small-to-medium enterprise to compete for business from the big guns and retailers that command the largest market share.
Adam addresses a magic pill which may be very much like building a bridge to the customer experience.
Think about that.
When was the last time you got great customer service?
For me, it was when the smallest business and solopreneur called me to thank me for joining their digital community.That was Adrienne Smith, the consummate community builder and pro blogger.
Or, when the new email service provider we just got for The Heart of Marketing called to ask if everything was going well and did we need any assistance. That was Get Response, the best provider for customer service.
Adam lives and breathes customer service. He's a franchise owner, and MBA, and a really smart guy. We encourage you to get his book and listen to his podcast, too; after you listen to ours first, ahem.
Thanks, Adam! You're #RockHot!
Resources
http://twitter.com/AdamToporek
'Be Your Customer's Hero' by Adam Toporek
Crack the Customer Code on iTunes, Stitcher Radio and elsewhere