2 builders who never spoke to each other

Spend on the gesture where the lifetime value pays

Handwritten cards, flowers when a customer suffers a loss connected to your product, an instant refund with the item donated instead of returned: these buy loyalty precisely because they cost something, and they are affordable where one customer's lifetime spend is large. Do the arithmetic first, since the same money is wasted in a category nobody repeats or talks about. Reach for the personal version at your worst moment rather than your best, and treat public, consistent decency as a slow accumulating asset.

The method

1. 01

   Send every new customer a handwritten card that tells them they can phone you whenever they want.

2. 02

   When you learn a customer has suffered a bereavement connected to your product, send flowers and a written note.

3. 03

   On a wrong order, refund immediately, skip the return, and ask the customer to give the item to a local charity instead.

4. 04

   Spend heavily on delight only where a single customer's lifetime spend is large enough to fund it.

5. 05

   Serve your customers personally at your worst moment; a gesture during a bad run buys more goodwill than one during a good one.

What it returned

• $70,000

  A pet owner may spend around $70,000 on food over the animal's life

• Chewy welcomes each customer this way

• Chewy sends a bouquet and condolence note when a customer's pet dies

• Chewy tells buyers of the wrong dog food to donate it to a pet shelter and refunds them

Sources

• Play the long gameJustin Jackson · justinjackson.ca · What this means for marketers · undated
• How Chewy delights customersHarry Dry · Marketing Examples · undated
• How Jürgen Klopp makes fans smileHarry Dry · Marketing Examples · undated
• Posting seltzer. Making money.Harry Dry · Marketing Examples · Posting seltzer. Making money. · undated
• Managing Expectations: Making Good (on) Promises. – The Bootstrapped FounderArvid Kahl · thebootstrappedfounder.com · What Makes a Good Promise · 2022-04-28
• Say Thank You – The Bootstrapped FounderArvid Kahl · thebootstrappedfounder.com · Thanking your Customers · 2021-07-02