Have you ever eaten at a restaurant or cafe and had an experience you couldn’t forget?

Perhaps it was the delicious food or great service.

Or maybe it was a bad experience that left you with a “bitter” taste in your mouth.

Either way, one thing is for certain – you probably told someone about it.

Here’s an example…

Recently my wife and I had lunch at one of our local cafe’s.  So the question is, was it a good experience or bad experience?  Read on to find out…

Basically my wife and I decided to enjoy the day and take the dog on a leisurely walk down to the beach.  The sun was shining and we weren’t in any rush to get home.

Once we got downtown we both felt a bit hungry and instead of opting for the famous “Arbour Dog” (which is a foot long hot dog that one of the restaurants is known for), we decided to sit outside at one of the local cafe’s and grab a sandwich.

Now, neither Amy or I have ever eaten at this place even though we’ve lived in this little town for over 2 years.

Anyway, they had a place to sit just outside the actual cafe which was great because we could enjoy the sunshine and keep an eye on the dog at the same time.

That’s when it happened…

As soon as we sat down, we knew this wasn’t your “normal” cafe.  It had that little “something” that made it stand out from the rest.

For example, the menu had a variety of sandwiches that you wouldn’t normally find anywhere else – especially in a little town like ours.

The sandwiches were unique, different and made us both stop and say “hmmm, that sounds nice”

In fact, both Amy and I couldn’t decide so we each got different sandwiches and shared just so we could try two different items.

Then, as we waited, we were graciously served our drinks and began chatting with the person who owned the cafe.  He was a real nice,  down to earth guy.  You could tell he worked hard and took pride in his shop.

It was refreshing from the kind of service that you get elsewhere when you feel like an “inconvenience” just because you ordered something – you know what I mean?

Anyway, soon afterwards the food arrived and we were not disappointed.

It was presented very nicely with a variety of colorful fruit, veggies, gourmet chips and of course the sandwich.

The portions were just right and the food was delicious.  That’s when Amy and I got into a friendly argument – we couldn’t agree on who’s sandwich tasted better

So once we finished, I went to pay.  The total came to $21.44 and I handed the man two $20 bills.

For me, this was the moment that made me want to share this experience with you because I think there is a HUGE marketing lesson buried in what happened next…

The man looked up at me and politely asked if I had any smaller bills ($5 or $10) because it was fairly early in the day and he wouldn’t be able to give me correct change (and plus it would have been in $1 and $2 coins) .

Unfortunately I didn’t have anything smaller than a $20.

So instead of asking us to go to the bank and get smaller change (like I’ve experienced before), he simply said, “just give me $20 and we’ll call it even”.

My initial reaction was “no, no, I’ll go get change”.

He then responded with “don’t worry about it, just take care of me the next time you are in”.

Looking back, here’s why that was so powerful…

Lesson 1 -  That Extra $1.44 Instantly Turned Into A Marketing Investment

Let’s face it, how many times have you had a great experience somewhere but didn’t tell anyone about it?

We are WAY more likely to share a bad experience than a good one.  But in this case (as I am doing now), I am sharing this experience with thousands of people.

So although most small business owners would have figured out a way to get paid the remaining $1.44, this guy knew that $1.44 is a small investment in the most powerful marketing method known to mankind – positive word-of-mouth.

Lesson 2 – Reciprocation

In his book “Influence:  The Psychology of Persuasion”, Robert Chaldini talked about the Reciprocation principle.

In my copy on page 33, I highlighted a section that directly relates to this example.  It reads:

************
“There is a strong cultural pressure to reciprocate a gift, even an unwanted one; but there is no such pressure to purchase an unwanted commercial product.”
************

So in this situation, the $1.44 acts as a small (unwanted) gift.

Even though I had the money to pay for our lunch, it doesn’t matter.  I now feel a sense of obligation to reciprocate the favor.

Will I go back to this cafe?  You bet.

Will I tell others about this cafe?  I am right now

Do you see how powerful that $1.44 has become?

The funny thing is, I am WAY more likely to go back and WAY more likely to tell people about it solely because I (knowingly or unknowingly) feel that I need to reciprocate the favor.

Here’s the kicker… I’m also highly likely to “repay” the $1.44 (plus a tip) the next time we eat there. And whether he knew it or not, he planted that seed by saying “just take care of me the next time you are in”.

This implies that…

1)  I’ll come back

…and…

2)  I’ll add a little extra tip to make up for the $1.44 difference.

It was very subtle but extremely effective.

So in the long-term, this guy is not going to be “out of pocket” AND he will have reaped the benefit from all the positive word-of-mouth marketing that I’ve been generating about his cafe.

Lesson 3 – Go The Extra Mile

Everything about this cafe was different.

The menu, the food and of course the experience.

Now it may not differ from some fancy restaurants in a big city, but for our little town it definitely stood out.

So in your market, what is the “norm”.

Figure that out and try to do everything you can to do something different.  Sometimes all it takes is a couple creative ideas and you can instantly differentiate yourself from everyone.

In today’s world, you can only compete on things like “price” for so long.

For example, there is another restaurant that my family and I frequently visit for “Sunday morning breakfast”.  The reason we go is because the food is pretty good and it’s cheap

But the service is slow, the wait staff aren’t overly friendly and if another breakfast place popped up that had comparable food and prices, we wouldn’t have any reason to “stay loyal” to the restaurant we go to now.

When your business relies on being the “low cost provider”, you set yourself up for a constant struggle and in most cases, failure.  It means that you’re always going to be focused on squeezing profits out of shrinking margins.

However, when your competitive advantage is something that isn’t easily copied by your competitors, the entire game changes.

This cafe had many of those elements.

The food was different – there were items on this menu that are not being offered anywhere else in our town (or neighboring towns).

The presentation of the food was  different – although it was just a “sandwich”, it felt like a lot more because he included colorful fruit, veggies and unique chips.  Plus, the way he laid it out on the plate by cutting the fruit/veggies in a creative way made it seem like a piece of art.

It wasn’t just plopped down on a plate like most places do.  It showed he cared and took pride in the way it was presented.

The service was excellent – often times it’s the “little things” that make an experience go from good to great.  That’s what happened here and you can do the same in your business.

What “little things” could you do to make the buying experience for your customers stand out?

What could you do that would make them tell their friends, family and coworkers (or their entire email database!).

When you answer those questions you put yourself in a much stronger position to stay one (or two) steps ahead of your competition.

Now I want to turn it over to you…

Have you ever had an experience where you bought something and afterwards couldn’t stop raving about it?

If so, share it in the comments below.

The more comments we get, the more insight we’ll gain regarding what “little things” had a BIG impact.

Take care.

About The Author

Stu McLaren helps small business owners make more money with their websites, membership sites and affiliate programs. Get Stu’s personal advice on your site by visiting Instant Business Answers.

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