TALES FROM THE DEEP TISSUE TRADE
I tell this story somewhat hesitantly--not because of how it reflects on the business owner, but because it might give the impression Honey and I live the life of Reilly.
The truth is, we do indeed live a good life. As Honey once said to me, moving to Utah was one of the best gifts we've ever given ourselves.
We also work like crazy.
Besides being up to our eyeballs in advertising, with me sitting here at my desk for days on end, shoulders all tensed up around my ears as I ceaselessly pound the keys and record VO--and Honey works even harder--there's also a certain amount of physical labor in which one must engage if one is going to maintain a Mountaintop Marketing Fortress. Said facility, impressive though it may be, does not come with a staff of minions to do our bidding.
So, periodically, my wife and I visit a massage studio in Park City to have the knots removed. (We emphatically do NOT get what those in the trade technically refer to as a "pushy, pushy, rubby, rubby massage." These massage pros earn their money in a big way.)
EVERYONE LOVES A DISCOUNT
Now, the last time we descended from the Mountaintop Marketing Fortress to have ourselves torqued silly by muscular masseuses, Honey was very happy to take along a coupon she'd clipped from the local paper.
I looked at her coupon and said, "Ya know, I don't think that coupon is still good. It's from last summer."
She replied, "There's no expiration date."
It was apparent that she was determined to get her 20 bucks off the massage.
So, we went down to town, we had the knots removed, and after we were done, I stepped back and let Honey use her coupon.
AS ANTICIPATED, THERE WAS TROUBLE
The receptionist said, "Oh, we don't accept that coupon any more."
Honey stuck to her script.
"There's no expiration date."
"Yes, the local paper took the expiration date off the coupon."
Finally, after a very civilized round of discussion (Honey is nothing if not a diplomat--which is how she spent all those years on Madison Avenue and in Hollywood without ever being voted off the island), Honey paid the tab in full and said, "Would you please give the owner my phone number and tell her I'd like to talk to her?"
Now, me personally, I'd just as soon be done with such a situation.
Not Honey. As she said to me, "If you're not going to make good on that offer, then you're going to have to listen to me complain about it."
It's good being married to someone with a heightened sense of justice.
ABOUT AN HOUR LATER...
Honey's cell phone rang.
She stepped out of the room to take the call.
A few minutes later, she was back.
She said, "Unbelievable."
I said, "Really."
"The owner of the massage studio.
"She couldn't have been nicer. She apologized profusely. She said the paper had taken the expiration date off the coupon and refused to do anything about it to make good. She also said, 'But that's not your problem, it's mine. And the last thing anyone should have to do after coming in to get a massage is then get stressed about using a coupon. The girl working the desk is very nice, but she's also new. She should have just accepted the coupon. I'm going to have her refund the discount to your credit card."
BUT WAIT--THERE'S MORE
Honey was pleased enough.
But a few minutes later, her phone rang again.
It was the receptionist from the massage studio.
She had credited the discount not just to Honey's session, but to mine as well--despite there having been only one coupon.
Honey responded to this by asking her to increase her tip to the masseuse.
The masseuse is now happy.
My wife is happy.
And because she's happy, I'm happy.
And because we're both happy, we're telling our friends about a Park City massage studio that's going to make them happy.
The geometric progression of word of mouth marketing ensues.
SADLY, THIS KIND OF BEHAVIOR IS NOT NORMAL
It should be.
The massage studio owner had exactly the right attitude.
"That's not your problem, it's mine."
The paper's mistake was out of her control--up to the point where someone walked into her place with that coupon.
And she owned that mistake for them, doing everything in her power to turn the mistake in her favor and make her customer happy.
It could have easily gone the other way.
That coupon could have been presented by someone who wasn't as easygoing, strategic or diplomatic as my wife.
That coupon, coupled with the ignorance of the receptionist, could have cost the business a client and could have spread ill will through the community. (If people love anything more than a good discount, it's spreading bad news.)
That coupon was offering just a $20 discount.
By not honoring it, the business owner might as well be saying, "Give me 20 bucks, and you can go around town telling people what a louse I am."
Talk about the wrong kind of permission marketing.
WHAT IF THE COUPON WAS GOOD FOR A FREE CAR?
Well, that's a whole other story.
There are all kinds of ramifications predicated on the scale of the potential errors in such a scenario.
Everything must, of course, be taken on a case-by-case basis.
I know businesses that take their coupons regardless of the expiration date. "It's expired? Don't worry about it!" (A ploy that suddenly makes the business look even better.)
But the point being here that regardless of what happens at the media end of the pipeline, the business ultimately controls how they respond and how the customer is going to feel about them.
It's incumbent upon the business to do what it takes to keep the customer happy.
That customer is, after all, the single most valuable source of advertising they have.
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