262. Don’t Pop Your Customer’s Balloons

A funny thing happened at the market recently.
And when I say “funny”, I mean “disappointing.”

It was February 15th, the day after Valentine’s Day. The store had about 30 unsold balloons that were already inflated.

They were those big, colorful mylar balloons that are shaped like hearts and flowers and say things like “I Love You” and “You Complete Me”.

I had actually bought one for my wife a day earlier, because she completes me.

Anyhoo…

While I was there, an employee took out a knife and started to pop the balloons and toss them in the trash.

This wasn’t malicious. I mean, they were Valentines Day balloons and Valentine’s Day was over. Heck, there are only 314 days left until Christmas. It’s practically time to put up the holiday decorations again.

I semi-jokingly said: “Can I have one of those balloons for free for my daughter?”

Without looking at me or stopping her popping, the employee said, “No.”

That’s it.
Just “no”.

I’m not sure what surprised me more, the response or the tone in which she said it.

You know what, it was the tone. Definitely the tone.

As she continued to pop the balloons, she mumbled an offer to sell me a balloon for half price. Keep in mind, I didn’t actually hear her tell me the offer. Somebody else told me she said it.

But this isn’t about me getting a free balloon.
Or even a half-priced balloon.
Nor is this about my daughter getting one.

If I really wanted a balloon, I’d happily pay full price for it like I did the day before.

What got to me was that they were just popping and trashing perfectly good balloons.

“Hey, I have an idea,” I casually said to the employee. “Instead of popping the balloons, why don’t you give a free balloon to kids who come into the store.”

I thought it was a fair suggestion.
But I was clearly annoying her.

She didn’t bother looking at me.
She didn’t bother to stop popping.
In fact, she barely even bothered to respond to me. She just mumbled “no” again.

So I left.
And I went home and wrote this article.

Because there are two very important lessons that every leader at every company needs to understand.

The First: Customers Want To Feel Heard

I shop at this market at least three or four times each week.
But that shouldn’t matter.

I spend thousands of dollars at this market every year.
That shouldn’t matter either.

Regardless of how much I spend or how often I buy things, the simple fact that I walked into their establishment should make me a valued customer.

And the most undeniable truth about your customers is this:

Customers want to feel heard. They want to feel like they matter.

Customers do not like you to pop their proverbial balloons. In fact, they will abandon your brand faster than that popped balloon can fall to the ground.

I don’t care if the customer is wrong or right in any given interaction – rarely is that actually important.

What is most important is that, when a customer is speaking to an employee, that employee understands their responsibility to give them the courtesy of actively listening.

Nothing makes a customer happier than feeling like the company cares about them. That’s the power of active listening.

And nothing makes a customer more frustrated than feeling like they don’t matter. That’s called popping their proverbial balloon.

Here is the critical part of this:

It is more important to acknowledge a customer’s feelings than it is to follow their suggestions.

Listen, I don’t care if the store gives the balloons away or not. As the saying goes, it’s not my circus, they’re not my monkeys.

What I do absolutely care about is that when I – or any other customer – has something to say, you give us the basic courtesy of pretending like you care.

Which brings us to the second important balloon lesson.

The Second Lesson: Growth Is Built On Goodwill

Sure, giving away balloons to kids is a kind thing to do. Kindness is important. But I’m not writing this to talk about giving away your excess inventory to be kind.

I’m talking about business.
I’m talking about customer acquisition, retention and revenue growth.

There is one inalienable fact that extends across every single industry:

Customers want to feel surprised and delighted by a company or brand.

The more frequently your customers feel surprised and delighted, the more goodwill you accumulate.

And the more goodwill you have, the more money people will spend with you.

Let’s take the simple act of surprising a kid with a free balloon, as an example. Yes, it will make their day. But here’s what else may happen:

• Their parents will be ecstatic and may spend more more with you that day
• The kid and the parents will talk about the free balloon to others. Those other people may start spending more money with you as well
• Other shoppers who witness you giving free balloons to kids will think more highly of you for your kindness. They will keep coming back and spending
• Plus, your company will have an enhanced brand image in the community, which will result in increased business

Imagine if each parent and witness told only two other people about the free balloon. That’s 180 other people who are positively influenced by your actions and may spend more money with you.

Surprise and delight goes a long long way.Companies pay a lot of money to build that type of goodwill.

Why?
Because goodwill means growth.

Goodwill is like the gorilla glue that affixes your customers to your brand.

 

In my growth consulting practice I come across a lot of people who don’t recognize the importance of building goodwill and how ridiculously easy it is to do.

The days are flush with opportunities to build goodwill with your customers, you just have to consciously look for them.

• Are you an account manager who hasn’t talked with a big customer in awhile?
  Send them a text to check in and tell them you’re thinking about them. They’ll love it.
• Are you a sales person who has prospects you’re hoping to close?
  Set up Google Alerts so you can ping them when you see news that may impact their business. They’re more likely to buy from somebody who cares about them.
• Have to deliver something to a customer?
  Give them a deadline as far out as reasonable, then beat it by as much as possible.

Or instead of trashing your left over balloons, give them away for free to random kids.

—

Keeping your customers happy isn’t really that hard. You just have to act like the helium instead of the knife.

Help them rise up instead of tearing them down.

And for goodness sakes, stop popping your customer’s balloons.