“I want to go to the Nuggies Store and NOT the scary people store.” Anonymous ordered, as if he had the one and only vote.
Anonymous is three and a half but he stirs up trouble like no boy — or man — I’ve ever met.
“And what store is that?” My brother asked.
“The store where Amy takes me.” The Diabolical One answered.
“Which store is that?” My brother repeated S-L-O-W-L-Y. His mind obviously spinning with the possibility that I’d taken his {evil demon} spawn to a tattoo parlor, a sex shop or perhaps the infamous erotic bakery. (They really do have the best cakes.)
“The one with the SCARY people.” He shouted, having NO patience for this discussion. (They look so innocent in their car seats. What a flipping illusion that is.)
As my thoughts raced to exactly where I had taken him with scary people (no, none of the three choices above), I realized where it was. Two can play this game, I realized. “Where the bunnies are?” I asked.
“Yes.” He whispered, likely knowing I was about to bust him.
You could see my brother’s brain race to the nearest casino with the cocktail waitresses sporting only the latest in Playmates uniforms.
“Relax” I said. “The poker isn’t good till well after Anonymous goes to bed.” I paused, purposely. There’s nothing like getting older and still being able to poke your brother as much as you did when you kidnapped all his G.I. Joes and sold them back to him for about ten times what they were worth.
“He’s talking about Whole Foods. The organic carrots are right when you walk in. He thinks a lot of bunnies eat there.” I explained.
My brother raised one eyebrow. Obviously, he wasn’t buying it so I continued. “I took him there on Halloween. All the cashiers were in costume. Remember, I made you osso bucco? I had to get wine for it and the wine guy scared the hell out of him. He was dressed like a zombie.”
Silence.
As my brother debated whether or not he should call the poker room to see if they have a Kid’s Klub (they do), I thought about first impressions and their impact.
I love Whole Foods so much that I want to marry it and have its babies. (As an aside, if you haven’t read I Love You More Than My Dog by Jeanne Bliss, you should do it now.*) However, I totally get why my nephew was traumatized. The wine guy is scary WITHOUT being dressed up. He knows way more than anyone should about wine AND on a good day, he looks like he just came out of a cave. (Think a milk-fed Osama Bin Laden.) Couple that with a ghoulish costume… you’d be terrified, ESPECIALLY if you believed in monsters.
Granted, my nephew would sell his thrice-mortgaged soul to the devil to eat at McDonald’s. (What the hell do they put in McNuggets?) But the truth is, even if he had never been to a McDonald’s in his life, that day at Whole Foods still would have had a lasting impression on him — an experience so traumatic that he’d never want to return.
Kind of like your web site, eh?
I find that most folks — especially the “experts” — don’t talk enough about repeat visitors and how they impact your business.
Our knickers get twisted about bounce rates but we don’t focus enough on the people who come back and more important, how long it takes them to come back.
Of the ten or so metrics you MUST know about your business, that’s absolutely one of the most critical. Knowing if and when your customers repeat.
When someone new comes to your site today — whether you have a blog, a robust e-commerce site, or something in between, the user decides, in less than ten seconds, whether or not they’ll EVER come back. Some folks look at a lot of pages. Others leave on the very first one. But all of them decide if your site is a place they’d like to revisit.
Your goal is to figure out how many people are visiting again and how long it takes them to come back. Chances are you can influence how long it takes them (thus shortening your Days To Sale/Action) with tighter deadlines, everchanging carousels/visuals, polls/surveys, and more.
It’s either that or figuring out what they put in those damn McNuggets.
*No, that was not an Amazon link or a sponsored anything. I avoid customer service/care books like the piggy flu. However, I happen to like Jeanne’s. It’s quick and worth a read. Plus, you’ve got to admit, the title alone makes it worth buying.
Amy,
People aren’t talking about repeat visitors and they aren’t measuring the effect of hit-&-run shoppers on their business. All customer acquisitions aren’t created equal. There is a huge difference between acquiring someone who has the potential to become a loyal customer and someone who is fulfilling a one time need. One generates ROI, the other increases costs.
Information is easier to capture and utilize than ever before. It’s a shame that more focus is on the ones who get away (bounces), than the ones who grow companies (customers).
Hi Debra — You are SO right. Funny enough, I am a HUGE proponent of offers and deadlines and even I look at some of the stuff people are doing as of late and think “are you kidding me? You may as well pay me to take that product off your hands.” There definitely needs to be WAY more attention spent on ROI and LTP. Thanks, as always for commenting.
Amy,
Great try – but retailers usually don’t know if and when their customers repeat in retail stores – why would they think about it on the web?
I love your thinking “Your goal is to figure out how many people are visiting again and how long it takes them to come back.” And I think that that kind of thinking will occur on the web WHEN it starts occurring everywhere else in the organization.
I still see a whole lot of “transactional” thinking in companies – looking to “close the sale” rather than “open the relationship.”
I believe the whole conversation about the customer has to change in the company before the thinking starts to come around to the “coming back.”
How many companies are only focused on sales (or as Debra so aptly says above – on “bounces”) that their energy does not go into what really matters?
When will companies understand you get what you focus on. When the thinking changes the metrics will change.
OR as Jeanne Bliss might argue – when the metrics change – the thinking will change – hmmmm.
How DO we get our customers to LOVE doing business with us – so much that they come back often, bring their friends and their money?
Now there’s an operating question!
Hi JoAnna — SO nice to see you posting here — thank you.
The great thing about the web is that it allows us to know/find out all sorts of things about our customers behavior — what they look at, how long they stay, what their interest is (in other words, do they start/finish the sign-up process or put something in their basket) and so on and so forth. Sadly, a lot of companies take this information and focus on the stuff that’s not important versus the things that could really move the needle in their business.
As for getting customers to love us? Since you’re the QUEEN of that, the answer is likely on customercarecoach.com or joannabrandi.com, right?
Well Amy – it could be there somewhere. But today I wrote a “tip” on value
http://www.customercarecoach.com/public/current_tip.asp and maybe that’s really the point of the discussion.
What DO those customers value? What’s important to them?
YOu are so right – the web allows us to find out all sorts of things by “spying” on their behaviors (what they do vs. what they say). I’d love to think every customer knows what they need and want – but the real truth is they don’t.
Most people can’t articulate their true feelings.
So – there are two solutions – get more emotionally intelligent AND learn how to use analytics properly. Listen more carefully to what the customers says – and then watch more carefully to what they do.
And then – call Amy Africa and she’ll tell you what to do.