Does Your Business ‘Give Them Something to Talk About’?
I used to get turned off reading about peoples’ stays in a five-star hotel. It felt too remote for me.
It made me feel jealous, excluded and it brought up some of my subconsciously negative attitudes towards people of wealth.
This past week I got to spend two nights in Four Seasons hotels in Boston and DC. What I learned was similar to my first experiences flying first class – something else that used to seem removed from any reality I would ever have.
My takeaway was that you get treated like a different species when you fly first class and stay in luxury resorts and it’s really nice! It feels great. I feel acknowledged, like my patronage matters.
The referral relevance to this is strong: people refer from the head AND the heart. The more of an emotional enthusiasm people have for you and your business, the more they will talk. If they see what you do as plain vanilla, there is nothing for them to talk about. Even customizing your interaction with them makes a difference.
If you want first class rates, think harder about first class service and about a relationship that makes them feel “like a different species” – it’s one reason American Express get such good customer service ratings. I actually enjoy calling them.
In John Jantsch’s The Referral Engine, he quotes Seth Godin: “If the marketplace isn’t talking about you, there’s a reason. The reason is that you’re boring. And you’re probably boring on purpose. You have boring pricing because that’s safer. You have a boring location because to do otherwise would be nuts. You have boring products because that’s what the market wants.”
The head part of what people recommend is because you fit the bill with what you have. The heart part is having something that surprises people and makes them feel good.
Last week I also stayed at a perfectly acceptable Embassy Suites in Florida but there was nothing about it that I would talk about as special. I slept okay and their breakfast was ‘fine’. Not one person acknowledged me or showed any interest in me enjoying my stay. That’s plain vanilla.
At the Four Seasons there was an attentiveness to detail that was lovely and impressive. When I called room service to return a tray, the manager in training, Victoria Bean, could hear that my nose was stuffed up, asked if I was feeling okay, sent up tea and steamed milk, wrote a personal note wishing me “a speedy recovery” and the man who delivered it told me there would be no charge because I wasn’t feeling well! When I called the Embassy Suites at midnight for directions because I was lost in my rental car, I got no empathy.
In age when we all feel that we’re racing around at 110 mph, these are the moments we appreciate. You can make that difference too and it just might well be that action that gives others something to talk about.
Please forward this to those who matter.
Author: Matt Anderson, The Referral Authority, Author of Fearless Referrals
Copyright 2012
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