One of my best investments was a pair of cowboy boots. I bought them in Austin, Texas on a business trip. Now to know me is to know I’m not really a cowboy boot kind of girl. So, why buy them? Because I love new experiences and I wanted to understand why people love their boots so much. What’s the big deal?!
I quickly learned that the right cowboy boots are extremely comfortable, almost like slippers! And if you’re really strategic in your purchase you can wear them for multiple occasions. Another thing people know about me that I like a little “bling” and sparkle. So while I’m not about to spend several hundred dollars on boots that could only be worn once in a while, I don’t mind spending good money on things with value. Give me multiple purposes for the product and the purchase is a no-brainer.
Think about your own products and services in that regard. Do you provide high value plus utility? Do you create a no-brainer buying journey?
What I love most about my blingy boots, and that I never expected, was the constant attention I get from both men and women, especially when I travel.
If I got a dollar for every time I heard, “I love your boots!” I’d be a very rich woman.
I quickly realized that my boots were made for TALKING, in addition to comfortable walking. Most recently a random man in the Austin airport stopped me and said,
“Excuse ma’am, where did you get those boots? My wife would love them. Can I take a picture of them?”
The look in his eyes was priceless. I could hear the subtext in his voice “If I buy these same boots for my wife, I will be in major favor.” I told him I had bought them in Austin two years ago but couldn’t remember where. I asked for his card and said I would get back to him. A friend of mine had taken me to the boot store where I purchased them, but I couldn’t remember the name of the store.
To add to the interaction with this stranger, another random man chimed in to try to help me remember where I had bought the boots and asked me if the store I went to served margaritas! I’m dying to know which store THAT was. So now, in this moment, I had two strangers engaged in conversation about my boots but also about the boot buying experience. I call this “creating community”.
Here’s the other reason why I love my boots – the buying experience was AMAZING. The boot sales guy was quite the character. He fully engaged and educated me about boots, from the cut to the heel to the sole. I had no idea there was so much to know about boots.
And then I asked him, “What kind of boot does a man like to see on a woman?”
He beamed with excitement to tell me and said, “If only more women would ask that question!” And then proceeded to tell me more than I wanted to know about stiletto heeled boots.
What kind of buying experience do you provide your customers and clients? Do you educate and engage them? Do you create an easy way to make a purchase based on product knowledge?
This past weekend I returned to Austin on business with the goal of buying a new pair of boots. On my last trip, I had my eye on a pair that cost way too much money to put in writing (in case my husband stumbles upon this post). I figured that if my first pair of boots got so much attention (and business leads from conversations, by the way), that a second even cooler pair could only lead to more greatness. And thus, I became a loyal customer spending more money on the next product up.
How are you converting customers to the next product or service because they are believers in what you have to offer?
So here is what I learned from all of this:
- Try new opportunities that are not normally in your standard operating procedures; be innovative
- Stand out and get noticed
- Create a buying experience that is engaging, educational and easy and ultimately repeatable
- Uplevel your business by investing more as you grow
- Buy the boots!.
If you feel like you’re stuck in place in your business, it may be time to learn how to improve your ability to pivot from Company Culture to Team Engagement to Sales Story to FANtastic Customer Experience™. Let’s connect and talk about shifting your business from people problems to performance results, which is our mission, by the way.
