Let Them Eat Ice Cream

It's tough right now. Gas prices seemingly go up daily. Groceries are more expensive today than last week. The cost of supplies and materials, if available, are on the rise. Customers are holding back a little before spending, or they are spending less. It's all a burden right now, and it can be suffocating to businesses. Operating costs took a quick jump, more quickly than we anticipated. 

Now, more than ever, it’s important to show our customers that we care. That we get it. If we genuinely appreciate our customers choosing to spend money at our business, we need to find ways to show that. It does not matter the size or scale or type of business.  If you manage a restaurant, run a farm stand, own an outdoor clothing retailer or have a multi-million dollar global manufacturing business. The pain for customers is exactly the same. 

So let's pause and talk about ice cream.

I recently returned from a trip to visit family in Norway. We were in my father’s hometown, which is a small coastal village that is relatively quiet much of the year. There are a handful of restaurants (and a great hot dog stand!), so not a big culinary destination. I’m a big fan of Yelp because it has never let me down, so I found a casual restaurant with good reviews. 

We were immediately greeted by a friendly, smiling server. Check the box: she gave us the impression she genuinely cared that we were there.

Through our conversations, we learned that the restaurant is owned by a family from Syria who had immigrated to northern Norway a couple of years ago. When their daughter (who was the charming young girl who greeted and served us) was getting ready to enter high school, they moved much further south for a better school system. The chef, who was her father, stopped by the table a couple of times to check on us. It was such a pleasant, friendly and warm experience. 

At the end of our meal, our server said that, since it was our first visit to their restaurant, the chef would like to give us all ice cream—a small but meaningful gesture. 

Coincidentally, my husband and I own a couple of ice cream shops (I call it a hobby business to which my husband always retorts that nothing about it is a hobby!). So we know the cost of ice cream. The three dishes each with a topping (give me caramel anyday!) had a total cost to the business owner of about $4.00 total. 

They took a $4.00 risk on us, not knowing if it would bring us back another night. They didn’t know that we were leaving the next day, but I’m not sure it mattered to them. I believed they made this small gesture of appreciation because they genuinely cared that we were there. 

Simple. Show you care.

It doesn't matter how large or small your business is; I challenge you to find one small gesture that shows your customers how much you care that they chose your business. Do not overthink this. Make it small and simple. Do not send it to committee. Just do it. Today.   

I have ideas for you, regardless of your business type or size. Email, text, or call me, or let’s catch up for coffee. I’d be delighted to brainstorm a few ideas with you or your CMO.

Here is the kicker of the restaurant story: our meals were not exceptional. They were marginal. We had a much better meal at another restaurant the night before, but I can’t even remember the name of it or what our server looked like.

We enjoyed the experience of dining there so much that in the end it didn’t matter. This business showed genuine appreciation for us choosing to spend our money there. It made us want to go back. If we weren’t leaving the next day, we would have. But I did what I thought would help them more than just our family eating there one more night. I gave them a great review on Yelp. All it took was $4.00 in ice cream. 

It doesn’t matter how unique you may think your business is. There is always a competitor somewhere who will try to do it better than you. As stressful as having competitors can be, I secretly love it. It makes me work harder as a business owner. It keeps complacency at bay and makes our entire team stay on our toes. We always go at least 5% more for every client to show them how much we care about their business.

Now, I’m off to buy Prosecco for a client meeting. It is a late afternoon meeting on a hot day, and we know how much she enjoys a cold glass of bubbly (as do we!). Most importantly, though, we want her to genuinely know how important she is to us.