I love SlideShare.net.
If I’m not careful, I could lose days on there learning and not doing.
Though, this presentation is worth every moment of your time. It was created by Marty Neumuier of Liquid Agency, formerly Neutron. Liquid has worked with some impressive brands such as Meebo, Adidas and Microsoft.
I sent an email to a local print shop asking them to print some business cards last minute for me before I was to leave on a business trip. In my email, I specified that they should call me to come pick up the cards when they were finished. This shop usually drops all of our print jobs off. But since I was leaving work early that day, I would miss the delivery and needed to pick the cards up in person.
I just got screwed.
I made the classic first-time-to-China-and-I-have-no-idea-where-my-hotel-is-so-I’ll-believe-the-taxi-driver mistake. Since I wasn’t sure where my hotel was, how to get there, or what to pay to get there, I trusted the taxi mob (even though I felt like I was about to get screwed). And sure enough, I way overpaid. Leaving me pretty miffed.
But consider the transaction from the point of view of the taxi drivers. White guy, clearly American, and looking rather dazed from 20 hours of traveling. Chances are, this is a rare trip for me to China. And they are right. I’ll probably never come back to Guangzhou, China after this trip. So why not get every penny they can from me in this one transaction? It’s not as if they are building a brand or relationship. They are a one time service provider.
If J. Dawg’s had begun by just offering great hot dogs, then they probably would have down alright. But they’ve done amazingly well because of the brand story that customers love, want to share and can easily share because it’s simple.
Setup inside of a small shack only large enough for a grill, toppings, a refrigerator and two employees across the street from the university campus, J. Dawg’s sells all beef and polish hot dogs. They also offer a sweet tasting secret sauce that I buy from them by the pint. There is almost no parking since the university controls all of the parking lots in the area. You usually have to park elsewhere and walk there.
So why was this little start-up featured as one of the best in the area?
Two stories.
Story One. I was walking around a mall recently when I decided to check-in on Foursquare. To my glee, American Eagle was having a Foursquare special. For checking in, I qualified for 15% off my entire purchase.
It’s story time boys and girls.
Overwhelmed by running a business, a home, two kids and me, my wife decided it was time for a housekeeper to help out a bit. After research and multiple interviews, we found Tracy (name changed). She’s been working for us for about three weeks. Earlier this week, my wife came home at 2:30 to find that she had not come at 2:00 as agreed. Just before 3:00, my wife ran some errands. At about 5:15 she finally got in touch with Tracy and asked why she hadn’t come. Here’s her response:
“I couldn’t come at 2, so I came at 3 instead. And you weren’t home.”
The problem? She never communicated the time change to my wife!
Walking along an outdoor street mall in Park City, I noticed that only two stores had their doors open, despite the beautiful weather. The store in the picture above was one of only three stores I entered simply because it was easier.
Bare with me for a moment while I indulge my love of economics.