The Hindu Business Line : A ballet of connections

A given in today’s marketing is that the good old days are not going to return. The tried-and-true business tools and advertising techniques that worked for generations are losing their potency, writes Jonathan M. Tisch in Chocolates on the Pillow Aren’t Enough ( www.landmarkonthenet.com).

With the world getting increasingly hurried and insecure, exhausting and fragmented, millions of people are desperately in need of opportunities to feel free from time pressure, says the author. They also look for safety and security in their surroundings, and would like to be “pleasantly stimulated, physically and mentally; at peace with themselves and others; and ready to be open-minded, creative, and productive.” Organisations – be they businesses, nonprofits or government agencies – can provide these opportunities “by reimagining the customer experience,” says Tisch. The crucial organisational skill is “the ability to create comfortable, intimate, exciting, and rewarding life experiences for customers.”

The moment of sale for most customers is “the first time they touch or are touched by a company,” declares the author. “The sale is, at its most basic, about money changing hands. Yet, the start of a customer connection should be much more than merely a financial transaction.” Sale is “a complexly interwoven ballet of connections,” says Tisch. Don’t, therefore, put too much emphasis only on the moment “when the cash register goes ching” or “a computer blip indicates an entry on someone’s credit card account,” losing sight of the other connections. Turn your customers into guests and make your organisation hospitable, counsels Tisch. “Today, high-speed Internet access, a luxurious extra-thick mattress, a multispeed shower-head, and a well-stocked minibar are all taken for granted,” he writes, drawing from his experience as the CEO of Loews Hotels.

“I’m constantly looking for opportunities to add even more amenities and additional ways of delighting our guests. Sometimes, it costs millions, as when we expand a property to include a spa with pools, massage rooms, and all the latest exercise equipment.” Can hospitals become hospitable? Very much possible, assures the author. For instance, the Duke University Medical Centre in Durham, North Carolina, has a ‘laugh mobile’ that travels the hospital floors, “providing patients with audiotapes of stand-up comedians like Bill Cosby as well as comic props (squirt guns, clown noses, Groucho glasses) for do-it-yourself fun.” Humour can make the serious battle against diseases such as cancer more endurable for patients, explains Tisch. The laugh mobile is only one of the many amenities that Duke offers its cancer patients. A genealogy programme helps them “research their family trees” during the hospital stay; specially trained dogs “provide patients with furry companionship, affection, and fun”; a look-good-feel-better programme helps female patients ‘adjust to changes in their appearance that cancer and related treatments sometimes produce’; and the ‘Hoop Dreams’ programme has a former coach at Durham Academy helping kids who are patients ‘hone their basketball skills’…

Recommended read for a whole week, so keep this book under the pillow!

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D. Murali