021 The Invisible Touch – When Butterflies Turn Ugly

Fallacies of Marketing

Have you ever heard of the Butterfly Effect?

It's the theory that if a butterfly bats its tiny wings in, say, Beijing, someone in the US can die in a hurricane from the effect. In other words, small actions have big effects.

Do I believe that a butterfly halfway around the world can affect what goes on in my part of the world?

Hey… if the effects of the sun 93,000,000 miles away can affect me, why can't a butterfly here on Earth? Aren't we highly interconnected here on Earth? Don't our actions affect others?

I believe they do.

Small Actions Impact Your Clients

Let's stay with the book store that I featured in section 020 (and so did Harry Beckwith).

You're in line to check out, the line takes longer than you think it should. You listen to the two clerks behind the counter "bitching" about their hours, how management doesn't understand them, how they're not paid well enough to put up with all the stuff they suffer through.

How do YOU feel at a time like this?

Compare that to a sunny "Good Morning… how are you?" and a call over the loudspeaker in the store that more staff are need to help with the checkout line so that they can speed up those wanting to start reading their new books after paying for them.

With the first setting, you become (if only subconsciously) upset with the workers, the store, and even perhaps management who just MIGHT be treating their employees incorrectly.

In the second, your experience (as we chatted about in 020) is enhanced, you feel good when you leave, the last thing you enjoy is a good spirit in the store and you want to visit again.

Negative Encounters Are Magnified

Harry Beckwith points out that "Experiences with services tend to be dramatic rather than incidental; brief encounters often have a far greater impact than you know. They have a Magnifier Effect: the effect of a contact is geometrically disproportionate to the event."

What you remember is the negative activity, though it was only a small portion of your experience in the store that day.

I used to tell people about photography that our attention goes from dark to light, out of focus to IN focus. And if we carry that one step further in other situations, it also goes from motionless to in-motion.

So everything in the store could be going along smoothly but it's the ripple in the calm lake that grabbed your attention. It was the sharply-focused negative activity rather than the general (and pleasant) soft focus of your wandering around the store.

At The Point-Of-Sale, More Attention Is Needed

And I'll carry that one step further. Let's assume that the line were short and you were at the counter almost immediately. So far there's little positive and no negative feeling.

But from the retailer's point of view, should the person behind the counter ask "what else can we get you today?" As I've pointed out before, people entering retail establishments (or going online to a place like Staples.com or QVC) are THINKING about buying, and we should not let them down. We need to offer to sell them as much as we can and as much as they want.

Our question at the time of sale can never be "is that all?"

What book did they REALLY want to purchase? At a restaurant, what dessert will REALLY set off dinner so that they will always remember this meal. In a convenience store, what small item should they purchase now so that they won't have to come back later (because at least from the store's perspective, when they really need that small item, they might purchase it somewhere else!).

Details.

Systems.

Making sure that systems are followed and all details are followed correctly.

Question: what would 50¢ more on each transaction do for any store's bottom line. Often A LOT.

That little flap of a butterfly's wing can have a major impact.

Remember that.

Best,

Charlie Seymour Jr
Blogging, Podcasting, Consulting

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Charlie Seymour Jr is an entrepreneurial evangelist and marketing-success coach helping individuals and companies (up to $100MM) explode their success through online and direct-response marketing. He specializes in blogging, podcasting, photography, video, and Facebook applications. Visit his blog at http://bit.ly/24eYTO to learn more about his successes.

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Fallacies of Marketing

021 The Invisible Touch – When Butterflies Turn Ugly