Marketing Guru Seth Grogan says it all:
Who let this guy in the building?
Are you letting other people talk to your customers?
At the big box pet store they have a vet’s office in the back. Ask the lonely woman at the counter, “Excuse me, do you know where the leashes are?” and she’ll say, “No, I don’t work here.”
Really?
She sits there every day, day after day, and she doesn’t know or doesn’t care where the leashes are? Who let her in this building, and why?
The tourist bureau of your town is spending a fortune to attract visitors, but when the security officer at the taxi stand sneers at a tourist, all of that goes down the drain.
The band worked hard to sell you a ticket, but when the opening act gets too loud and goes too long, all that goodwill disappears fast.
You may not have the authority or the control to decide who gets to talk to your customer before you do. Doesn’t really matter, though, because the customer thinks you do.
H/T John H —
We let others set our ground rules. I also received a note from David who has written a piece that will be in PT next month — the money quote:
IBM recently completed a study that indicated that parking was a frustrating experience for most people. (Surprise!) They indicate in their conclusion that the frustration is caused by a lack of parking in most metro areas and that significant infrastructure development is required to alleviate the problem.
The IPI responded with the argument that the industry is working diligently to address the problem with technology, sustainability, and other investments. While this may be true and is a good faith effort in many cases, does it really get to the heart of the problem?
I believe that parking operators and municipalities in particular, should make every effort to manage expectations to reduce the fabled “parking hassles” and “frustrations”. If the public is educated in the realities of parking availability, then their parking experience will meet their expectation. This effort must be diligent and consistent. An example of the industry rising to meet this demand and expectation is the development of pre-purchased parking passes/reservations systems complete with driving directions for events and other special needs. These systems define the parking available and deliver the space as promised. They set the expectation level and then meet it. The customer will generally not “Over expect.”
David is right — We rely on technology and sustainability to solve all our problems, but an in house solution and a good PR program to set peoples expectations might go a lot further than a new POF or P and D. Read all about in the September issue of PT
JVH
