What
Are You Selling (And We All Sell)
In
one of my favorite idea books – Make Your
Ideas Matter by Bernadette Jiwa, I’ve read this story a few times now. It’s important. I’ll abridge.
Once
upon a time, a hair salon opened its doors.
They hired a stylist named Carmel.
She quickly became the most asked-for stylist in the shop.
One
Saturday, Bernadette, (author), arrived one hour before the shop opened. She had heard of Carmel’s reputation. Fifteen minutes later, another lady showed up
to wait. Then a grandmother with her two
grand-daughters. Before the shop opened,
six people were waiting for Carmel, only Carmel.
By
9:05, there was a 3-hour wait for Carmel.
Why?
Was
there no other stylist? Did she have the
market on how to do hair styling? Was
her price lower than the others?
No. The other employees were just a trained, just
as talented as Carmel. And they all
charged $20 bucks. What Carmel offered
was four ingredients.
Care
Connection
Belonging
Love
She cared about each customer
and it showed.
She connected, because she
asked personal questions, remembered significant events about each customer’s
family, birthdays, holidays, illnesses, and life events.
Her following was loyal to her
because they all belonged to a secret club – the Carmel Club.
And Carmel loved her clients. Oh, not in a gushy, oey-gooey way. She loved because she cared, and she cared
because she loved.
What an incredible way to
develop a following.
The, my friends, is called “Service”
with a capital “S”.
Good, old-fashioned personal
service still works.
This is what is on
my mind today.
P Michael Biggs
Offering
Hope
Encouragement
Inspiration
