Chapter 5 Tuesday morning
They were standing outside the town hall as they heard the parish church clock chime the hour. Zak was reminding them of the task he’d set…
“Though your story is your story to tell, its main aim is to be the story your customers tell about you. Something pointed and easy to rememberand so easy to share. So let me hear two powerful stories.”
There was a silence as Nick and Slater both looked at each other before Slater hesitantly offered to go first.
“The story I want customers to share about their re-designed kitchen is that it was transformed for me by Slater,” she said, somewhat shyly. “The story reflects how I took a personally-designed approach which was tailored to suit their needs. I was a bit unsure whether I should include my personal name or my business name, but in the end I went for the personal route.”
“That’s a great approach because you’re so personally involved in the work. I like it. And Nick, what’s your story?”
“My story is…” He paused, glanced around, cleared his throat and then said Coffee & Company is the place to talk about old things and the place to try new things.” He looked at Zak and sheepishly asked, “Was that okay?”
“Of course it was,” Zak answered. “You both seem quite hesitant about your storieswhy?”
“It doesn’t seem right to be telling the customers what to say about our business, because they should be making their own minds up about it.”
“Oh they will,” replied Zak. “And they’ll decide whether they want to say something good or say something bad about you based on the experience they’ve just had of your service. However, I’m going to assume that it will be a great experience, so you want to prime them to re-tell your story. Remember, it’s not what you do. It’s what you do for them. They’ve got to feel that it’s their story they are re-telling, not yours. In any small business, you are your business. When people talk about your business they are effectively talking about you and what you’ve done for them. So you need to keep building on your story in a consistent manner so it becomes a memorable story for them that is easy to re-telland that they want to retell.”
Zak paused as a large and loud truck passed by them.
“The way you embed your story is in the many small interactions you deliver to your customers and the experiences that are created from the sensations that your service or product interactions elicit in them.”
“I’m not sure I understand that,” said Nick.
“Me neither,” added Slater.
Zak explained.
“As a small business owner, you and your team are your brand. Especially if it’s a small team of people like your family for example Nick. Or your regular installer,” he added, nodding towards Slater.
“You’ve got to embed some consistent behaviours that show you as being authentic in all that you do. But while these behaviours are important for you, what’s more important is how they actually manifest themselves to the customer in the feelings and emotions they arouse in them. This consistency helps to show the customer that you are authentic in what you do. You aren’t just putting on a showthis is how you, and your business, truly are.”
“So these sensations that we need to deliver are designed to create specific feelings and emotions in the customer towards our business?” asked Nick.
“Absolutely. Maya Angelou was an American poet and civil rights activist and she said that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel. The feelings and emotions you create in your customers need to be aligned to your storythe one you want your customers to re-tell to others. When customers re-tell your story and the person they’re telling it to asks a question, they will draw on the experiences they had with you and will start to repeat the sensations that you aroused in them.”
“Music stars do this don’t they?” asked Slater, who then continued to answer her own question. “They have their own sense of dress and lifestyle which is aligned to the type of music they sing. Rap stars are very different to pop stars, who again are very different to ballad singers.”
“Sometimes singers change, don’t they?” asked Nick.
“Yes, but only when they’re evolving into a new look or style, when they want to re-position themselves. And I suppose businesses sometimes do this too,” said Slater.
“Which is precisely what you and your businesses are doing with me now,” added Zak. He continued…
“As an example, it isn’t just pop stars who have an image. Some years ago I used to play golf, and one member at my club was called Mike Saunders. He had a nickname of The Colonel, which apparently came from the fact that he looked a bit like the Colonel Saunders character of KFC fame. Now that was just a nickname, but his golfing clothes were always a bright red top with matching trousers. I never saw him wear another colour out on the course. People used to make jokes about it, but he was consistent, and never changed. You could always tell The Colonel on the course even when he was too far away to recognise. This was his authenticity and character when playing golf.”
They’d been slowly walking along the High Street and came to one of the big-name coffee chains.
“Shall we go inside?” suggested Zak.
“Do we have to?” asked Nick. “I avoid these places at all costs,” he added. Unfortunately, his own café was at the other end of town, too far away to visit.
“Consider it market research,” suggested Zak. “Before we leave here, we’re going to do a little exercise, which I’ll explain later.”
They ordered their drinks and took them to an empty table at the back of the building.
“I emailed an extra task to you yesterday. Have you done it?”
They both nodded.
“These are the sensations you just spoke about aren’t they?” asked Slater, opening her notebook to reveal what she’d done.
“That’s correct. I sent you some examples through and asked you each to identify four sensations that you’d like all aspects of your interactions with customersor potential customersto elicit. Do you want to show us yours Slater?”
Slater showed them her notebook page.
Slater’s kitchen transformations
Sensation |
Description |
Inspiring |
My designs, and the way I present them, are so elegant that it creates a sense of immediate desire in the client when they realise their kitchen space could actually look this good. |
Functional |
I incorporate relevant space saving kitchenware and devices to show them how to reduce their required storage space in an appropriate and practical way. It also comes through in how my paperwork is clear and gets straight to the point. |
Affordable |
I show them how my transformational approach is cheaper than a major refitand how it requires minimal interference with their daily lives and their ability to use their kitchen. |
Collaborative |
Customers feel they want to work with me as I always try to do what’s best for them. They feel they could trust me to be in their home when I’m doing the installationeven if they weren’t able to be there themselves. |
“And have you thought about some other ways that you can make your customers experience these sensations when they deal with you?” asked Zak.
“I have. In my brochure I’ll only use photographs and sketches of work that’s actually been done by me. I won’t show really expensive installations that would just be dreams for most people. I want to show images of stylish looking kitchens with space-saving devices and storage methods. This shows how functional their new kitchen will be and in a manner that inspires them to want to spend more time in there. I’m going to re-design my website to have a cleaner, more elegant design too that matches my kitchen design aspirations. I’m also going to offer three types of pricing. The first is where the core of the work is to make the kitchen look goodnew doors, surfaces, flooring, lighting and repainting. The second is to install space-saving storage and devices to make the kitchen operate more effectively. And the third is a combination of the first two. This shows how it can be affordable for almost anyone in the options they choose. And naturally, I’m hoping they’ll take the third option, but I collaborate with them to help them choose the range of storage options and devices which is best for them based on what they tend to do in their kitchen.”
“Very interesting,” said Zak. “Nick, what are your sensations?”
The Coffee & Company café
Sensation |
Description |
Fresh |
Obviously in our food, but also in the clear colours we use in our décor and dressthere are no drab or grungy colours anywhere in Coffee & Company. |
Appealing |
Some of the food and drink we offer is enticingly different, such that customers will want to try something newbut it isn’t too much to be off-putting. |
Lively |
We’re an uplifting place to come to due to it being full of chatter and happy people. We’re the café customers want to bring their friends too. |
Homely |
We offer home-cooked food in a family-friendly environment. It’s your home away from home, with people you can trust in a place to talk and eat. |
“It goes without saying that our ingredients are all fresh, but we want to have daily specials so that there are always fresh things on the menu. Food that is freshly made, that appeals to people to try something new. I’m thinking about what Amazon do online where they make recommendations for you based on what you’ve previously bought. We’ll aim to offer similar items in our daily specials to things that have previously been popular.”
Nick sipped his coffee, grimaced, and then continued.
“People don’t just come for refreshments; they also come to catch-up on news and gossip with friends, give their kids a treat after school, or meet over a light lunch. So we aim to be their home away from home. To make it feel homely, and because some people have untidy homes and don’t like inviting people round, we want it to be their second home where they meet up with people and make new friends. We’ll make the place lively in the colours we use and in the bright clothes we wear. Who wants to have someone making food for them wearing grungy coloured outfits? We can have things on the menu like healthy smoothies with exciting names for kidsso parents don’t feel guilty about treating their children. My wife and daughter also came up with many more ideas around these sensations too. Even they’re getting excited by this!”
“And that’s perfect,” replied Zak. “Because you need to be living and breathing these sensations all the time so they become automatic and second-nature to you. Well done to both of you, that’s great thinking.”
“Now a little exercise for you in adaptation,” said Zak. “Look around you inside this coffee shop. It’s part of a big chain and so they’ve probably got their own branded experiences, or the style in which they serve people to ensure it’s consistent whenever you go into one of their coffee shops. Look closely and see something in what they are doing that you can adapt and apply to your own situation.”
“This is just for Nick’s café, right?” asked Slater assuming to answer her own question.
“Actually, no. This may seem unusual, but it’s for both of your businesses,” replied Zak.
The answer surprised Slater, but she began to look around, just as Nick was doing. She startled herself by being the first to blurt out a comment.
“They actually collaborate on creating the coffee you want. If a hot, wet, skinny, grande cappuccino is what you wantthen that’s what you get. I could actually create a list of all the potential options that I’ve ever provided in a kitchen, and potential customers could craft their own kitchen from these options,” she said excitedly.
Then Nick had an idea.
“I could allow people to create their own sandwiches from the various fillings we offer and if we thought it might be popular with other people, we could ask them to give it a name and we’d then offer it on the menu under the name they call it. We could even create a top five customers’ sandwiches list each week to appeal to our customers,” said Nick. He then continued…
“And I like the classical music they are playing. It’s quite homely and different to what you’d normally expect. I’m thinking we can have a classical hour twice a day.”
“Do you see the importance of having your own defined set of sensations? They act as guidelines to ensure you are differentiating your business from that of your competitors and they also help you to filter any new ideas you have. There are many things in here that you could have considered, but you were using your sensations to act as a filter. You only want to be doing things that help you to boost your sensations in some ways in the minds of your customers. Once you have your sensations defined, then whenever you go somewhere, or do something, they help you to be collecting new things to do that help build up your businesses’ own authenticity. Anyway, time for me to go,” said Zak, who immediately finished off his drink.
“I’ve got work to do. And so do you!”