I hope that you all were able to celebrate, relax and enjoy family and food this Thanksgiving holiday. Giving thanks is something we should all pause to do more often than once a year…yes, even in times like these we are a blessed group of folks here in America.

Which leads me to Black Friday…

The National Retail Federation says that things aren't so gloomy after all… Black Friday, of course, is traditionally more friendly to the big box retailers – and much more savvy independents might also catch a piece of the action (didn't catch it this year – ask me how to do better next year).

Black Friday, of course, gets its name from the hope that this shopping day will put retailers in the "black" for the year… For me, the big box advertising this year was more blah and uncreative than ever before with most boxes stooping to little more than a flat out, unremarkable gimmick to get shoppers in the door. Personally, I didn't step foot into a store on Black Friday due to my total disgust with the mentality that as a shopper, I was a mere commodity to the business on that day. I must say, deals are fantastic, but at the expense of my value as a human being…I doubt it. I'm certain that many of you do enjoy the thrill of the deal, and I don't deny you that experience. However, let me challenge you that the independent retailers of the world are much more interesting and will provide an experience (as a general rule) far beyond anything you could ask or expect in the corporate bureaucracy of big box land.

Which leads me to Cyber Monday…

I didn't get many offers from my big box e-commerce leaders this year that were different from what I receive every week. I noticed a significant increase in offers from Land's End and a discount and free shipping combo from The Gap and Target if I shopped online before midnight. Toys-R-Us did send an offer – but apparently the subject line was so unremarkable that I deleted it before I even read the offer.

Then I got a forwarded e-mail from Andy. What a breath of fresh air. Shop Local on Cyber Monday. A customer experience, a way to shop on-line, a great offer, and a personal message from a business owner. Andy even replied to the owner thanking him for the offer – AND got a personal response in the same day.

Of course, it didn't hurt that the offer came from Jeff Good, fine proprietor of my favorite restaurant in the metro-area, Bravo! But I get ahead of myself… here's what his e-mail said:

But, if we love the quirkiness, focus
and authenticity of "home grown" independent shops and restaurants,
we need to consider carving out a part of our budget for them… our neighbors
who work and give in the community in which we live.

So, as the holiday season launches into full
swing, Dan and I would like to offer an easy way to make a local purchase while
still getting the rush of an online click when buying today, on Cyber
Monday.

Buy a $60 gift card and get a $6 gift
card free… enough for breakfast at Broad Street or lunch at Sal &
Mookie's!

Like all "Cyber Monday" deals..
this offer is good for TODAY only and expires at midnight.

We all enjoy the endorphin release of a good
on-line purchase… get that "rush" AND help a local business at the
same time!

Thank you for your consideration, and your support,

Jeff Good – Dan Blumenthal

BRAVO! Italian Restaurant, Broad Street Baking Company, Sal & Mookie's New York Pizza & Ice Cream Joint

There are so many things done right. Jeff didn't use a fancy HTML format. This didn't win points with me, but didn't necessarily take them away either. He definitely wrote this himself. Points for authentic. He appealed to the local emotion – the neighbors and community building aspects…something that those of us who want to enjoy our lives should be contributing towards. And frankly, the purpose of my life's work. Community building via successful independently owned small businesses. Jeff made an offer that was good – and he framed the offer to make it more appealing (spend $60, get $6 more – enough for a breakfast or lunch at one of his restaurants). He encouraged the thrill of the Cyber Monday shopping and even through in assurance to shoppers that his site was secure and reputable. He tells us what to expect, and he respectfully closed his letter.

Of course, it doesn't hurt that these three restaurants all have experiences that are worth the trip – over and over again. It's why I meet all of my clients for coffee at Broad Street and know I will impress at Bravo! (and my honey knows he can impress me by taking me there, too). It's why I don't miss a chance to chill at Sal & Mookie's – or let the kids enjoy the fun times there by our sides. It's just a great establishment – and it's a couple of owners with passion for both their product and their people. I've never even met Jeff – but I hope to one day soon. Because I think he's running a class act of an operation – and I think that any of you small business owners out there could stand to take a page from his playbook. Get in the game to win, folks. And don't sit back on big days like Cyber Monday while the big boxes continue to bore us with their business as usual offers.

Which leads me to…what? Mobile Tuesday?

Yep, that's right. There's a new game in the holiday shopping world… and this could be very interesting. If you're a small guy who hasn't even taken a piece of the Black Friday or Cyber Monday pie – get it in gear or lose out. Mobile Tuesday sounds like a marvelous opportunity for those independents in 2009 that are in gear to win.

Read all about this emerging idea… and start thinking ahead about how you'll win in 2009 with a 1,2,3 punch in the days following Thanksgiving.

http://blogs.computerworld.com/black_friday_cyber_monday_here_comes_mobile_tuesday

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In today's economy, everyone is looking for ways to get ahead. And that includes marketing firms, ad agencies, web companies (yes, we own one of those, too) and the sort.

You want those tools that work – the magic pill that will help you survive – maybe even thrive. Right? What's working? And gimme a double shot of that.

I hang out on LinkedIn a fair amount, and a lot of the marketing and small business related questions floating around among the reporters there have to do with THE marketing tactic that is working or which PARTICULAR social networking tool is pulling the best.

Two things:

1. 99% of the time, no single hat trick is going to make your business wonderful. There isn't a magic wand. Unless you want to name it "hard work." Good business and in turn good marketing is a well crafted message pushed towards your carefully selected target market using the most strategic group of media, customer experience and customer retention practices that will make your marketing machine hum.

2. If you don't KNOW what combination or tactics are working for you, then you have a pretty serious problem. I've spent a fair amount of time measuring in my day – its sorta my shtick. But here's one thing for sure – if you work with us, then hold us to that. Don't do it because it's the "of the moment" tactic. Do it because it works. I don't care how cheap or quick or loud or beautiful or smashing "IT" is… do not do it unless you can measure it. And do not do it ever again if it doesn't work.

Chris Brogan said it best:

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http://www.psfk.com/2008/10/pic-family-business.html – photo taken at EAT Sandwich Store in Heathrow Airport near London. Everything about the label and box is customized with messages about food and eating.

Think about how often brown shipping boxes get re-used. Or left laying around the house. Or on the curb. Or moved around. And just plain LOOKED at while in use. And how about the people who see the box while it's in transport. It doesn't cost must to upgrade to a box that has some marketing on it. That extends your customer experience just a little more. Go all the way with it. This company did.

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As previously mentioned, I'm at that ever so joyful phase of life when I get to shop – and visit many public restrooms – with the newly potty-trained (and potty-fascinated and public potty-touring) girls in my life. And I have a son who (thankfully) doesn't really need any assistance at all anymore in that department, but frankly, he has a mother who is too chicken to let him walk on his own into the dark cave of doom, aka the men's room.

So, with this phase of my life in its prime, I've become a fan of the new politically correct "family restrooms." It's a thoughtful idea whose time has come – but whose experience hasn't quite reached its potential.

As to the concept, my general assumption (I mean, they didn't issue them with a manual) is a family restroom is a gender neutral space. By the signs of the traffic in and out, the family restroom is even more of a relief to the daddy's of the world when they venture into public with their young daughters. (Andy just confirmed that this is very true. He said simply, "I'm a fan.")

Here are my thoughts on how to make the family restroom experience a great one – a memorable, hassle-free, drama-free experience for your already stressed out parents shopping with children customers. Oh, and if that happens, guess what – those parents will come back – and they will tell their friends. Here goes:

The tall and short of it is that a great family restroom experience leads to a great overall shopping experience. I mean, how many of us would have had a great trip to the mall had it not been for an awkward or unfortunate bathroom experience with a young child? Ditto on the grocery store, dinners out, convenience store stops…the list goes on and on.

In order for a customer's experience at your business to be great – it has to be great in every forgotten corner of your business. That means that you need to remember your forgotten spaces because your bathroom experience might be the difference between your business' success or failure in today's economy. Leave no corner unattended – and pay special attention to the needs of young families – who are not only in the potty-touring prime of their lives – but also in their spending prime.

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This story is a bit more than a year old, but it stands as the best bathroom marketing story I've heard to date. And anyone of you out there who has ever had your toddler stand outside the bathroom door with fingers poked under and wiggling saying "but mommy I really need you right now" will appreciate both the humor and the effectiveness of this tactic.

A while back, I presented a small business seminar post-Katrina on the Mississippi Gulf Coast. The day after the seminar, I toured most of the Mississippi Gulf Coast Main Street districts in an effort to understand their challenges and their post-storm successes. One of our stops was to visit Margaret Miller, Executive Director of the Ocean Springs Chamber of Commerce – Main Street – Tourism Bureau. Before our downtown tour, I used the powder room (that's what we call the ladies room here in the Deep South). 

As memory serves me, the powder room itself was impeccably clean, stylish – a single potty literal powder room setup off of a side hall in their remodeled depot. When I returned to my party, Margaret apologized for not sending me in with any "reading material." Blushing, I brushed off the comment.

She said (and I'm quoting from memory, so Margaret, please forgive me if I'm not as precise as I should be here), "No, really. Usually when visitors come in to borrow the bathroom, the girls slide a little reading material under the door. No better time to learn about everything Ocean Springs has to offer."

She went on to shamelessly explain that visitors to the bathroom were a captive audience with time on their hands – and she felt there was no reason not to help them understand how wonderful and rich with experience Ocean Springs really was. I agree totally, it is truly one of the most experience-rich small towns in America, in my humble opinion – and her marketing method was ingenious.

Now, maybe not all of you should slide reading material under your bathroom doors (maybe some of you SHOULD), but it does stand to reason that Margaret makes a valid point. You do have a captive audience. Literally. Make good use of that time to educate them about your business – to answer their questions – or raise new ones. Can you place reading material about your business, its products or services into your bathrooms? Can you post marketing images on the walls? And for heavens sake, do as Ocean Springs did – keep the space clean, fresh and welcoming – so that nothing will distract from your marketing message presented during this ever so opportune moment in your customer relationship.

P.S. Margaret reported that the method was highly effective in getting often transient visitors to spend more time (and money) in downtown Ocean Springs.

If you loved this post, visit my fellow Bathroom Blogfesters:

Susan Abbott at Customer Experience
Crossroads
Katia Adams at Transcultural
Marketing
Shannon Bilby at Floor Talk!

Laurence Borel at Blog
Till You Drop
Jo Brown and the blogging team at Kohler Talk
Lisbeth Calandrino at Lisbeth
Calandrino
Sara Cantor at The
Curious Shopper
Becky Carroll at Customers
Rock!
Katie Clark at Practical
Katie
Iris Shreve Garrott at Circulating

Ann Handley at Annarchy
Elizabeth Hise and C.B. Whittemore at The Carpetology Blog
Maria Palma at Customers
Are Always
Sandra Renshaw at Purple Wren

Kate Rutter at Adaptive
Path
Claudia Schiepers at Life
and its little pleasures
Carolyn Townes at Becoming
a Woman of Purpose
Stephanie Weaver at Experienceology

C.B. Whittemore at Flooring The Consumer

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At this moment, I'm wondering if my mother would approve. She's not much on potty humor. Well, then again, I must take after her, because I'm not either. And my hesitation escalated when my honey just asked me if I was blogging from the bathroom. Horrors!

I immediately explained that we were blogging ABOUT the bathroom…or more specifically about business bathroom experiences and other such forlorn locations…not really ABOUT bonding with the girls in the bathroom (as we girls have sometimes been known to do). I mean, no self-respecting Southern belle would ever blog FROM the bathroom…would they? 

Humor aside (sorry mom!), I do have a thing or two – and a tip or two to share about how to make the most – and I mean make the most money – from a customer's time spent in your business bathroom. So, when Stephanie asked me a couple of years ago to join this jolly group of bathroom bloggers for an annual Bathroom Blogfest, I said YES immediately, and I can't wait to share another year's worth of my observation and practice in the experience jungle with you, readers of the official Bathroom Blogfest '08 – Cleaning Up Forgotten Spaces Around Us.

This week, I'm going to tell my funniest story yet to date about bathroom marketing. I mean, if you don't think it's funny, then you've never had a two-year-old interrupt your most personal moments. (You've really gotta stick around for this one.)

While I'm at it, I think I'll throw in a bit of personal testimony on the best and worst bathroom arrangements I've found from the perspective of a mother who has had the "privilege" of potty training this past year. (Not as funny, but hopefully money-making potential will offset the loss there.)

Stay tuned and also check out my other friends who are making their mark this week on the topic of bathroom experiences.

Susan Abbott at Customer Experience
Crossroads
Katia Adams at Transcultural
Marketing
Shannon Bilby at Floor Talk!

Laurence Borel at Blog
Till You Drop
Jo Brown and the blogging team at Kohler Talk
Lisbeth Calandrino at Lisbeth
Calandrino
Sara Cantor at The
Curious Shopper
Becky Carroll at Customers
Rock!
Katie Clark at Practical
Katie
Iris Shreve Garrott at Circulating

Ann Handley at Annarchy
Elizabeth Hise and C.B. Whittemore at The Carpetology Blog
Maria Palma at Customers
Are Always
Sandra Renshaw at Purple Wren

Kate Rutter at Adaptive
Path
Claudia Schiepers at Life
and its little pleasures
Carolyn Townes at Becoming
a Woman of Purpose
Stephanie Weaver at Experienceology

C.B. Whittemore at Flooring The Consumer

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An alliance partner of Team HALO’s called Blue Clover – a new media advertising agency based in San Antonio, Texas – sent out an e-mail to all of their clients and partners recently that said the following…

Welcome to Blue Clover!  The Mission of
Blue Clover is to create a remarkable experience for every Client, every time.

Well, after laughing outloud and thinking that maybe their marketing guy had been reading the same Seth Godin books I’ve been reading, (have I ever mentioned that I believe Seth Godin is required reading for ALL business people?) I went on to see that they wished to know my birthday, anniversary, favorite food and drink and favorite local restaurant.

Now, think about that for a minute. If you had that information about all of your best customers, you could really put together some gifts that were memorable. What an experience of service and customer care you would be creating. For me, I’m fulling expecting a gift certificate to Bravo on my birthday (my favorite local dish) or a swanky bottle of Cabernet Sauvignon when I turn 40 (that’s not this year, by the way).

Here’s another similar example –

A couple of years ago, a client of mine did something similar. He started by making an annual calendar of event options that he would sponsor and setting a budget including number of people he could entertain at each event. Then, he sent a letter out to all of his best clients asking them to mark "types" of events that they might be interested in – categories that matched precisely to his event calendar. The list included golf outings, cooking classes, spa treatments, fine dining, professional baseball, etc. Then, the responses were matched with the opportunities and remaining slots given to hot prospects. And you can guess what happened next, right? The good clients gave rave reviews of the business owner to the hot prospects while all networking and building relationships over a nice steak dinner, professional baseball game or game of golf. You get the idea?

One word of caution, however…

The KEY to the success of such high level customer retention tactics – plan what the customer wants (by asking them first) then DO it. Don’t forget birthdays once you have them. Don’t fail to invite on an event after you’ve teased with a questionnaire letter. Know that your budget is there and plan to take this tactic all the way to fruition or don’t do it at all!