Marketing tip: Upgrading your customers as a reward

I was on a cheap red eDeal Qantas flight from Perth to Melbourne last weekend and was thrilled to discover on check in that they had upgraded me to business class. I had been away for a couple of days and was pleased to have the extra leg room and edible food of business class to ease the journey home.

The upgrade experience will give me a warm feeling about Qantas for a small while. They had empty seats on the flight so the cost was minimal. I could reasonably argue that their small investment delivered a good return on investment given the amount I fly.

The experience made me wonder about upgrades we could give our customers, what unexpected benefits we could provide to have them leave our shops with a spring in their step and even kinder words to say about shopping with us when they are next talking to friends.

The following suggestions are about having bonus gifts at the counter to give customers. There are ways we could get these. I am sure some suppliers would help out.

1. We could offer something we have paid for like a free $1 scratch ticket to customers who spend over a certain amount. Unadvertised or promoted, just given as a simple thank you as part of closing the sale.
2. We could give a free stamp with greeting cards if they buy three or more cards. Again, unadvertised or promoted.
3. How about a free shopping list notepad with every stationery purchase for a couple of weeks – with the pad branded to your business?
4. A free reusable carry bag with any purchase over a certain value.
5. A free pen with every crossword purchase.
6. Free gift wrapping with every gift purchase.
7. A free gold seal for sealing greeting card envelopes.

Key to extracting value from the upgrade is that it is unexpected by the shopper. This makes it more memorable and more worthy of word of mouth promotion by them.

Whatever free upgrade offers you try, don’t promote them, just deliver them during the customer contact.  Make sure that what you provide is genuinely useful.  Remember, you are going for an experience which is unexpected and appreciated.

I have used most of the upgrade offers listed above at one time or another.  They have worked a treat.  The gold seals with greeting cards, for example, worked especially well with older female customers it made them return to use more frequently for the added value which then became part of what they gave the recipient of the card.

So, what upgrade opportunities do you think newsagents could offer?

Footnote: On my Qantas experience, while I appreciated the upgrade and lapped up the business class experience, I’ll bag them the next time they let me down. Every business is only as good as the last contact you have with them. Yes, it’s a harsh world.