We talk about the "extra" things you can do to get people talking about your business or your service. We even put it on our marketing checklist of 2008. Here's a great idea you can take away if you're in the hospitality business or not.
True Story
My husband and I recently took a trip to LA and stayed at The Standard hotel downtown. I asked the concierge if they would get us reservations at the nearby Takami Sushi restaurant. She confirmed so off we went. As soon as we arrived and gave our name to the hostess she said "Ah yes, you're coming from The Standard" and she showed us to our table. Our waitress came to take our order and said, "the hotel would like to buy your appetizer." Nice. Well done to both the restaurant for remembering where they just got two new customers and the hotel for going the extra mile.
Do you have a business that lends itself to co-marketing opportunities with a neighbor?
Clothing Retailers - Give one free dry cleaning around the corner when someone purchases more than $100.
Italian Restaurants - Give one free dry cleaning when a customer spills red wine or pasta sauce on their shirt from the delicious food you serve!
Hotels - Give one day pass to the gym down the street or give a free gelato coupon to the local gelato shop.
Realtors - Give a housecleaning coupon for $50 off the first clean or a local handyman coupon.
Jewelry Shop - Give a coupon for a free basic manicure from a local nail salon if someone purchases from you.
Car Dealer - Give a coupon for a free detailing.
Online Retailers - After someone has purchased offer a discount code to a complementary product. A good example is when wine.com used to offer discount codes for Omaha Steaks after you purchased.
Hopefully your neighbors will give the coupons or gifts to you for free or heavily discounted since you just potentially walked a new customer through their doors. Then it's up to them to do a great job converting them for repeat business. Either way, both of you have the potential of looking great, just like the restaurant and the hotel.
Word of mouth isn't always a campaign you can just start, it's all of the remarkable things you do for your customers. But when they're successful, they can start to get rolling, just like me talking about the restaurant and the hotel.
Do you have any ideas on how to get word-of-mouth rolling? We'd love to hear them!
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