Marketing is a Promise

I went to a quick-serve, chain type restaurant recently and I wasn't expecting much. Get my order right and I'm usually a fairly happy customer. I asked for a slight variation to the item on the menu and the words that came back over the intercom were: "it would be my pleasure". Wow. It was her pleasure to make my order exactly the way I wanted it? That short little phrase started to change the way I thought about that restaurant.

Could my experience at the drive thru be considered marketing? I believe so. Marketing is not just billboards, postcards and social media -- it's every experience or interaction a customer has with your company. We all know that the scripted "do you want fries with that" doesn't build brand loyalty because it seems empty and insincere. Sometimes I wonder if it really sells more fries.

To be successful, every business must find its own way of making promises and delivering on those promises consistently. All of your marketing must work in concert to create a well coordinated message that is mirrored in the customer experience. Consider using measurement tools such as customer surveys (paper and online), mystery shopping, and focus groups to gain valuable feedback on how you're doing.

Great companies don't become great by accident. They make a promise and then keep it. As for the drive-thru clerk: She got my order right, smiled and asked me to come back again. You bet I will.