MAKE ME AN OFFER I CAN'T REFUSE....
Posted 30th March 2011 at 03:12 PM by Gill
Making an offer to customers which they can't refuse may sound easy but try this for size...hot off press today...
Today a flight out of the UK bound for New York found itself oversubscribed and needed one of its passengers to get off the plane.
My friends had checked in at airport (today)and were each offered $750 to not board and to be flown to different UK airport then be flown to New York later in the day. They refused and continued to check in and go to flight. Every passenger was offered this deal - noone took them up on offer. On the plane the crew announced the offer was up to over $1000 to leave the flight...It appears noone moved!
How this story ends I have still to hear from my friends who are now is NYC, however it really got me thinking...
What does it REALLY take to get a customer to take up your offer?
On this occasion the customer was offered money (lots of $$$) plus guaranteed flight to same destination on same day yet noone was interested or motivated enough to take the airline up on its offer..They were happy to keep things as they were and not interested enough deviate from their plans or perhaps the way in which the offer was made was not good enough.
When you are deciding on your customer proposition its important to evaluate what is of value and importance to those people who will be reading your sales copy. You may think all those free bonuses (or should I shout "FREE BONUSES!!!!") are enough plus the 60 day money back guarantees etc however never underestimate the mind of the customer and remember what might motivate you to buy, may completely switch a potential customer off!
Put yourself in their shoes rather than only thinking of how great your product is and how much you want to make selling it. This might just cause you to deliberate in more detail what exactly will meet the needs and wants of those reading your sales copy..
Personally if I had been this very famous US airline I would not have relied on misplaced complacent beliefs that a few hundred $$$$ would shunt someone off the plane!
Why not guarantee to the customers the alternative flight would leave the same day, plus offer FREE UPGRADE on both legs of journey, plus access to business/first class lounge while they waited on new flight, as well as the $1000 bonus. For this airline this would have not cost anymore in terms of the financial offering but something tells me they may just have had someone take up the offer at the check in desk!
Further point for the airline - This was such a missed opportunity to not only get the excess passenger off flight - so it could leave on time - but they could also have got some excellent free PR on their customer service and dealings with passengers, to a flight with SEVERAL HUNDRED customers on it - Missed opportunity Big Time!!
NEVER under-estimate your audience!
I'd love to hear your comments on this...
Today a flight out of the UK bound for New York found itself oversubscribed and needed one of its passengers to get off the plane.
My friends had checked in at airport (today)and were each offered $750 to not board and to be flown to different UK airport then be flown to New York later in the day. They refused and continued to check in and go to flight. Every passenger was offered this deal - noone took them up on offer. On the plane the crew announced the offer was up to over $1000 to leave the flight...It appears noone moved!
How this story ends I have still to hear from my friends who are now is NYC, however it really got me thinking...
What does it REALLY take to get a customer to take up your offer?
On this occasion the customer was offered money (lots of $$$) plus guaranteed flight to same destination on same day yet noone was interested or motivated enough to take the airline up on its offer..They were happy to keep things as they were and not interested enough deviate from their plans or perhaps the way in which the offer was made was not good enough.
When you are deciding on your customer proposition its important to evaluate what is of value and importance to those people who will be reading your sales copy. You may think all those free bonuses (or should I shout "FREE BONUSES!!!!") are enough plus the 60 day money back guarantees etc however never underestimate the mind of the customer and remember what might motivate you to buy, may completely switch a potential customer off!
Put yourself in their shoes rather than only thinking of how great your product is and how much you want to make selling it. This might just cause you to deliberate in more detail what exactly will meet the needs and wants of those reading your sales copy..
Personally if I had been this very famous US airline I would not have relied on misplaced complacent beliefs that a few hundred $$$$ would shunt someone off the plane!
Why not guarantee to the customers the alternative flight would leave the same day, plus offer FREE UPGRADE on both legs of journey, plus access to business/first class lounge while they waited on new flight, as well as the $1000 bonus. For this airline this would have not cost anymore in terms of the financial offering but something tells me they may just have had someone take up the offer at the check in desk!
Further point for the airline - This was such a missed opportunity to not only get the excess passenger off flight - so it could leave on time - but they could also have got some excellent free PR on their customer service and dealings with passengers, to a flight with SEVERAL HUNDRED customers on it - Missed opportunity Big Time!!
NEVER under-estimate your audience!
I'd love to hear your comments on this...
Total Comments 1
Comments
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The thing with big companies is that they do not value the customer-- value proposition is limited to EXACT numbers by someone in the chain, so they would never be able to jump the hurdles of upgrades, etc. unless they NEEDED to.
So, for the little guy, this is where our manoeuvrings take place-- individualized service for our consumers up to cloud 9, and of course they will return!
By the way, I found your blog through the "latest post" ticker at the bottom of the main page! You should otherwise optimize your posts so it is searchable.Posted 30th March 2011 at 05:39 PM by ehawkmarketer
