A Crowd Pleaser

“Just play. Have fun. Enjoy the game.” – Michael Jordan

Winner of six N.B.A. Championships and five time league M.V.P., Michael Jordan knows much about what it takes to be successful.?

I am completely with him! It's been my observation that when you are having fun you do better. Your work becomes less like…work.

Here’s a big secret! When customers have fun doing business with you it makes their experience more pleasant. It endears them to you and results in repeat business and folks telling their friends.

Today’s idea is one designed to produce dramatically increased retail traffic. It’s will help customers have more fun while in your store; a better and more memorable experience.

NOTE: Even if this idea does not apply directly to your business, consider the factors at the core of it and it may help spark your imagination to create a hybrid of this that you can use.?

The Idea - Finding Finnigan? *

Finding Finnigan?is a limited time scavenger hunt promotion that has a maximum duration of one month. This should be done during what is otherwise a traditionally slow sales month.

There are three facts on which it is based:

• More people in the store increases the opportunity to make sales
• The more time people spend in the store the more likely they are to make more purchases
• The more departments they visit the more items they will discover that they need

How It Works

A cute cartoon leprechaun character named Finnigan is hiding in multiple sections of the store. A smart retailer will place multiple Finnigan’s in their highest margin areas.

Shoppers record the location of each Finnigan on a Contest Sheet.

Once daily, they will receive a small premium for correctly identifying the location of all Finnigan’s that day. (This could be a percent off coupon on their next visit and/or a promotional item.)

Their name is also entered in the contest drawing.

Each day during the contest period every Finnigan is relocated.

This could be done with actual physical Finnigan's or could also be done using Augmented Reality. A larger organization could build the A.R. into their existing app while a smaller store would likely want to stick with a paper or plastic character.

To make playing worthwhile and encourage people to come in as often as possible a Grand Prize and several other prizes are given away at the contest end. The winners of these prizes are drawn at random from all entries.

This will appeal to many and especially those with children. Children massively influence their parents! The reason Finnigan is a cartoon character is to inspire children to persuade their parents to go to find him at the store – every day of the contest!?

Optional: A way to enhance the promotion’s power to stay top-of-mind is by giving away Finnigan stickers and other Finnigan trinkets to the kids.?

*Finding Finnigan is a Trademark of Spearpoint Solutions. The Finnigan character is a Trademark of Dayna E. Sager. Both are licensable. Contact me for details.

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Want to give your company a competitive edge with a proprietary idea, strategy or training for your organization??PM me.

Biology is Killing Your Creativity

Your biological design is preventing you from coming up with better ideas. Learn why that is and what to do about it in an article I collaborated on with the amazing Stephen Key published on Inc dot com last week.

Read that by clicking on the Inc. title image above or right here.

Expert Tip

This week's Expert Tip is from Blake Binns, Founder of Good Advice Coaching.

Want to Grow? Go All In On Customer Feedback

Remember at the end of the day – it’s not what YOU think about your product or service. It’s what your customer thinks.

Your business is your baby, and no doubt you know all the amazing things you have to offer through it. If that weren’t true, you wouldn’t have started it!

Many of us as entrepreneurs have put in long hours and possibly even quit our full time jobs to pursue a new idea (I know I did!). So when something’s close to you… it naturally can be hard to be objective.

What this means is that we often get into business with a product or service that we really love… even when our customers may feel differently. But if you have any hope for long term growth – that kind of exponential, rocket-ship-to-the-moon type growth… you have to fall in love with customer feedback.

Here’s how:

1) Deliberately ask for feedback in the customer experience journey you’ve built.

That means an intentional point in your relationship with your buyer where you ask, “How are we doing?” For me, I create several of these touchpoints with my own customers, usually towards the start of our work together to make sure expectations are lining up… a second time about halfway through our work, and then a third time at the end. And if you haven’t built out your customer experience journey – this is a good starting point if you’re doing any kind of work at scale, and something I can help you with.

2) Ask the important questions.

I stayed at a hotel once that gave me a miserable experience. The room was gross and dirty and the morning breakfast had been left out too long, with flies and gnats on the food. The entire experience was disgusting. I was glad to see I was emailed a survey asking about my stay… but the survey didn’t ask me about any of these things! I was asked about nearby restaurant choices and the provision of transport from the hotel, and nothing about the room! These things are important, but surely not as important at the actual service they were offering.

3) Remember… It’s not about you. Getting customer feedback can sometimes be harsh. I run a business called Good Advice and I once had someone early on tell me, “More like Bad Advice”. Okay… I see what you did there. But if I truly care about offering something meaningful – and not something to stroke my own ego – then it means digging in on customer feedback even when it hurts.

Puzzle and Trivia

To add some fun to our reader's lives, the?Freaking Brilliant Ideas Newsletter?each week features a fun Puzzle and Trivia sheet.

To view or download a pdf version of this week's Puzzle and Trivia sheet, click on the image or go?here.

Can't solve the puzzle? Find the solution and the trivia question answer?here.

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See you next week?

About Bob Sager

The founder of SpearPoint Solutions, Bob’s professional background includes over three decades of experience in sales, leadership and training. Combined with creative thinking, he uses that experience to develop business strategies that help organizations increase sales and margins. Additionally, Bob facilitates training on methods of thinking more creatively that organizations can practically apply to all aspects of their business so they can thrive in the modern?economy.?

Among other accomplishments, Bob is the?inventor?of the creative thinking game,?What's the BIG Idea?? and?author of the books,?Discovering Your Greatness?and?101 Freaking Brilliant Business Ideas.?He is also the creator of a budget friendly way to access his ideas, the?Freaking Brilliant Ideas Bank.?