Continuity of Message

I finally gave in.

After watching the Culver’s commercials about their delicious fish sandwiches several times, I finally succumbed and bought a Culver’s fish sandwich a couple of days ago.

“Our fish is individually hand-breaded and fixed just for you.  Nobody makes better cod sandwiches than us,” stated Craig Culver, founder of Culver’s, in the commercial as he demonstrated by dipping the cod into batter.  A very Scandanavian-sounding gentleman agreed.  “They come from the North Atlantic.”

“We make our own tartar sauce, too, from an old family recipe,” Craig added. 

This is not the first commercial featuring Craig.  In another recent one, he spoke with a farmer who raised beef for Culver’s.  They discussed how the beef was never frozen, always fresh. 

In these commercials, Craig Culver communicates authenticity.  He projects credibility.  He imparts information about why Culver’s food is so good.  He backs up his claims with those who provide the cod and the beef.   

He ends every commercial with “Welcome to delicious.”

After I opened the box to enjoy my fish sandwich, I noticed that Culver’s has taken Craig’s ending statement one step further.  It is written on the inside top cover of the box.  I easily saw it as I lifted out my fish sandwich.  The printed “Welcome to delicious” was followed by Craig’s signature. 

Then I glanced at the bag and saw “Welcome to delicious” on the outside of each side of the bag, too.  Culver’s has threaded the same message through all communications with its customers:  on television, on wrappers, and even on bags.  Management is wisely reinforcing and reiterating Culver’s message at every opportunity.  This continuity of message is profitable marketing.

The message hints at Culver’s unique selling proposition.  Rather than merely offering fast food, Culver’s offers freshly-prepared fast food.   In his conversations with producers on the television commercials, Craig Culver clearly explains this difference. 

Unlike Culver’s, any businesspeople do not have one message about their business they continuously repeat.  Too often, they hop from one message to another or quickly change messages.  Usually this change happens from boredom.  The original message may not have been well-thought-out, and the change may not be, either. 

Think through your what your business offers.  Identify your unique selling proposition.  Decide your message. 

Then repeat that message at every opportunity. 

The Drive for Information

A Wendy’s ad caught my attention recently.  The headline was “Doing the right thing always tastes better.”  That was followed by a message from Wendy. 
My dad used to say, “You earn your reputation by the things you do every day.”  So we try to do the right thing - every day.  Like serving only 100% pure North American beef.  That means no additives or fillers.  And since our beef is fresh, never frozen, we ship it to our restaurants as many as four times a week.  This may not be the easiest way, but we believe it tastes better.  And that’s Wendy’s Way.
The signature of “Wendy Thomas” ended the write-up.

Notice what Wendy’s is doing in this write-up.  First Wendy’s gave information as to the content of the meat in its hamburgers.  In addition, Wendy’s explained that the beef comes from North America, is fresh, never frozen, and shipped to restaurants as many as four times a week.  That is a great deal of pertinent information to those who already do eat or may consider eating at Wendy’s.  They now know that Wendy’s doesn’t use fillers or additives, either.  In the customers’ minds, all of this translates into a safe-to-eat, good-tasting, healthy product.  

Increasingly, I am finding that customers want information.  They want to know what they are eating.  They want to know that it is fresh.  They want to know that it is safe.  Much of this drive for information is coming from the Internet.  Since 97% of customers, or more, are checking online prior to making a purchase these days, they are making the statement that they want to be informed. 

In marketing our businesses, we would be wise to heed this.  Like Wendy’s, we would be smart to inform customers of the details of our products and services.  Give them the information they want.  Rather than presenting a slick, meaningless message in generalized terms, deliver a message that is clear, specific, and detailed.  Offer particular information which will help customers in choosing your product or service. 

Take your message a step further by presenting a unique selling proposition just as Wendy’s did.  In stating that the beef is never frozen and from North America, Wendy’s positioned itself against fast food stores which do use frozen beef such as McDonald’s and Burger King.  Serving fresh rather than frozen is a distinct advantage in most customers’ minds.  Culver’s, another of Wendy’s competitors, has also been telling customers that it serves fresh beef from Wisconsin.  By explaining that Wendy’s serves fresh beef, too, Wendy’s is saying “We are like Culver’s” and inviting Culver’s customers into Wendy’s.

Finally, Wendy’s ended the write-up with the signature of Wendy Thomas.  Her signature gave the message a personal touch and made it a message directly from Wendy herself.  This move conveyed a concern for Wendy’s customers and reinforced a connection between Wendy and them.  Wendy’s name gave the message credibility.   

Look closely at your messages to customers.  Are you giving them the information that they want about your product or service?    

Six Steps in Handling Complaints

A week before my birthday, several of the businesses from which I regularly receive e-mails usually send me a “Happy Birthday” message along with a special offer. Some of these offers I do not use, but one for which I always watch is the free sundae from Culver’s eClub. This year a couple of days after my birthday I realized that I had not heard from Culver’s. Wanting that sundae and curious as to why I did not receive a coupon, I e-mailed the Culver’s eClub. “Why did I not receive my birthday e-mail?” I wrote.

Within twenty-four hours I received a reply from Anna Udelhofen in the Culver‘s Franchising System. “I apologize you did not receive your birthday email. When was your birthday? I ask because we recently underwent a system ‘makeover’ for eClub and the eCoupon function is not back up and running yet. Therefore we are keeping track of any backlogged messages for birthdays that were missed during this period and will send them out to guests shortly. In the meantime, I would be more than happy to mail your coupon if you wouldn't mind providing me with your home address.”

She concluded, “Thank you and I am sorry for the inconvenience.”

I was impressed. She replied promptly, and, more importantly, she did more than apologize. She gave me the reason for the oversight. She told me the truth, which is something many business people shy away from doing. Those who do so fail to realize that customers are human, too. Things go wrong in their lives. They make mistakes. They understand mistakes. Making a mistake with a customer is not the problem. The problem is the way that you handle the mistake after it occurs.

How you communicate with a customer after a mistake is critical to keeping that person as a customer. Six steps are important.
*First is being prompt in your response, at least within twenty-four hours.
*Second is offering a courteous apology.
*Third is telling the truth as to why the mistake happened.
*Fourth is offering to rectify the mistake, at least by giving the customer what
was missed. Going a step further is even better.
*Fifth is getting the offer to the customer.
*Sixth is following up that the customer received the offer and discovering if
the customer is satisfied.

Looking at Anna’s response, so far she had completed four of the six steps. Yesterday in the mail I received a coupon for a free sundae, completing step five. Usually, the birthday eCoupon has an expiration date after two weeks. The coupon that she sent did not have an expiration date. By not applying an end date to the coupon, she took step four even further. Since the next couple weeks look quite busy, I appreciate the extra time to use the coupon. Anna completed the first five steps with flying colors!

Will she solidify me as a customer by following up?

Just a Sample

After finishing a late lunch at Culver’s the other day, a client and I were sitting and discussing business when one of the staff came up to our table holding a tray. On the tray were small paper cups with a spoonful of frozen custard inside each one.

“Would you like to try a sample of our maple nut custard?” the tray-holder asked. “It’s our flavor of the day.”

“Sure,” we replied in unison, and the tray-holder promptly placed a small cup and spoon in front of each of us.

As we savored the frozen custard, I offered, “This is delicious.”

“I agree,” my client replied. “I think that I will have a dish. Would you like one, too?”

“I would. Thank you.”

While he went to get a dish for each of us, I mulled over what had just transpired. The management at Culver’s had taken the opportunity to increase the amount of money that customers already in the restaurant spent by offering a sample of frozen custard. This was an excellent example of one of the three ways to grow your business, which is to increase the amount that a customer spends each time the customer does business with you. By offering the sample of frozen custard, Culver’s had directly tickled our taste buds, thereby prompting us to buy more. Culver’s had increased the amount that we spent that visit, and we had enjoyed the frozen custard.

As I reflected on this, my mind skipped back to another recent example that I had experienced of sampling. I had received a sample of Grammy’s Pot Pie flavored dog food in a shipment of dog treats. After I dropped a handful of the Pot Pie into a dish, my border collie had dashed to the dish and growlingly had driven my shepherd away. You see, my German shepherd readily eats almost any food, but my border collie mix is a very picky eater. Therefore, I was amazed.

“Wow, she likes Grammy’s Pot Pie,” I commented.

Thinking her reaction may have been a one-time event, I offered her some Grammy’s Pot Pie kibbles at her next feeding. She hungrily devoured them.

At that point, I went to the company’s Web site and decided which size bag to order.

By inserting a sample into the shipment, the company increased how much I spent with them on my next purchase. Just like Culver’s, the company grew its business by increasing how much a customer spent on the next purchase by offering a sample.

Sampling is an effective marketing technique to employ but one many of us forget to use. Offering a sample is an easy, noncommittal way to get a customer to try a product or a service. Every business has ways to offer a sample. Even if you sell a big-ticket item, you can sample doing business with you by offering a customer advice or information on how the product can be used to the client’s benefit. That is a sample.

Do you offer samples to increase your customer’s purchase? What samples can you offer? How can you add them into your marketing plan to increase your customer’s purchase?

Remember, just a sample leads to an easy sale.