"Sounds good."
"Feels right." "Leaves a bad taste in my mouth."
Our language is flooded with sensory wording, yet we are mostly
unaware of how our gut instinctual reactions "color" our
likes and dislikes as we enter a place.
The multi-sensory cues we feel "tell" us a lot. People
have millions of instantaneous, brief and sequential reactions to
someone's home, hotel, office, store, or other site, yet they are
consciously aware of only a few. But they draw strong conclusions
about what they think they experienced. You can put people off or
put them at ease if you know how to influence those perceptions.
With increasing competition, not only from within your industry,
but non-related businesses as well, managers are becoming more savvy
and strategic about designing the experience they offer their customer.
Restaurants and coffee shops sell quality clothes and giftware,
hardware stores promote in-store seminars and workshops, printers
offer one-stop secretarial services and sporting good retailers
operate adventure tours. Businesses recognize the value of offering
customers a wider diversity of products and services that is a complement
to their main business activity.
No matter what size or kind of site you want to enhance, here are
a few simple "first impression" cues to cultivate a warmer
relationship with the people who pass through your doors.
A Larger-Than-Life Landmark
An outstanding focus point that can be seen from first sight of
your establishment until people are almost inside provides several
positive effects on customers. It orients, and literally moves them,
toward your building or event and emotionally prepares them for
entering. A flagpole, for example, will not have as strong an emotional
impact as a 30-foot turning mobile, illuminated by changing colors
of light and visible a long distance away.
Move to Motivate
Motion increases the intensity of emotions. If the featured landmark
moves or otherwise changes (color, shape, size, lighting), it increases
the viewer's sense of involvement and anticipation. Their expectation
that the ensuing event will be exciting often positively colors
what they then think they experience inside. Every large and small
motion heightens emotion.
Back to top
|
An employee's outstretched
hand makes customers remember more of what was said and feel more
strongly about that interaction than they will feel about other
moments at your place when they are, for example, just seated and
not moving.
Create a Foot Oasis
When people feel something soft underfoot immediately upon entering
your business, they are more likely to be comfortable about the
site and the people in it. Further, they will tend to pause where
it is soft and take more notice of whatever they are looking at.
Wherever people have to wait, such as in a refreshment or restroom
line, you can mitigate their irritation and anxiety by placing cushioned
surfaces where the waiting is most likely to occur.
Purge Patterns
In your staff's clothing avoid patterned garments, especially on
the upper half of their bodies. Patterns break up the viewer's attention
span so people are less likely to listen to instructions and take
direction. Your staff will have to speak more slowly and repeat
themselves more frequently to customers, who will also be more impatient.
Patterned walls also make people less attentive and more anxious.
In some cases, people even reduce their peripheral vision and tend
to bump into each other more often.
Soften Background Sounds
People don't have "sound lids" to block out sound they'd
prefer not to hear. Females and older people are especially sensitive
to subtle ambient sounds from air conditioning and other mechanical
systems, let alone crowd noise. Few are conscious of how deeply
and adversely steady background noise influences their perceptions
of others. Several studies have shown that such noise heightens
listeners' views that the people near them are thoughtless. Such
listeners are more likely to engage in hostile words and behavior.
Make Them Passionate Fans
Use quality mementos, such as lightly scented cards with action
images of people related to an in-store display on one side and
a quote from a related celebrity on the other. These cards are "keepers"
that inspire bragging rights in the recipient. People tend to keep
these cards in a pocket or purse, show them to friends and colleagues,
and refer to them frequently and for a longer time. That's great
word-of-mouth reputation building for your business.
Back to top
|
Generate Good Will
Early
When people are offered some small, free memento up front-especially
before they have given up anything such as money for a purchase-they
have a more positive perception of the store, staff, and ensuing
experience. For example, a restaurant manager may offer a free glass
of wine to customers waiting for a table, which not only placates
the customers but also increases per-customer spending. Similarly,
a store manager could partner with another vendor who wants to access
the type of customer visiting your store. You give a free sample
of his or her product/service to each customer who enters your store.
The positive effect created will be far beyond the actual value
because it sets an early tone of generosity and openness that inspires
reciprocity.
Keep Them Happy Longer
Take the "free offering upfront" procedure a step further
and intensify a feeling of good will and camaraderie by offer something
that engages their attention and increases the chance they will
talk with your staff and others attending your event or establishment.
Perceived waiting time is reduced, people are less restless, and
their view of anyone with whom they speak goes up. Overall, they
consider the people around them more thoughtful, more interesting,
and even better looking than those who were not given freebies and
thus engage in fewer discussions with others.
With every action visitors take on behalf of the experience they
have at your site, the more they will deepen their belief in the
positive memory they had. You are creating passion-bond connections
with customers. As they comment on their souvenirs, they are self-training
themselves as your salespeople, using the positive selling points
in which they most deeply believe to sell others. With each action
they take, they deepen the root of memory and are more likely to
want to participate in a future sale or other event at your site.
Back
to top
Kare Anderson is the founder of the Say It Better
Center, located in Sausalito, CA. She can be reached via email at
kare@sayitbetter.com.
|
