So, you've invested in superior customer service, built a great customer experience, taken care of your customers like nobody else could ever do. Now, do you want to turn that superior customer experience into unstoppable marketing? If so, consider the concept of helping your customers collect "social currency."
At Drybar, the sharing is built right in
Drybar, the “blowout bar” that has transformed the haircare industry with its runaway success (they’ve grown from 4 locations when I first encountered them to nearly 40 in the U.S. and London opening soon) encourages relationships between its customers in several ways. With permission, Drybar posts before-and-after photos of customer blowouts on Facebook and Instagram, whereupon fans critique and comment on the transformations, in some cases selecting certain winners to “hang” on Drybar’s Facebook-based wall of fame. The Drybar mobile app has sharing functionalities built right into it as well. When a customer makes an appointment, she’s invited to share it with friends (who may parlay this originally solo invitation into a real-life Drybar meetup). But offering these social media features would mean little if the company didn’t make its physical space conducive to gatherings beyond the solo flyby or two friends catching up. The comfortable, open yet sound-level-aware layout in Drybar makes it a natural choice for birthday parties for nearly all ages as well as for girls’ nights out, bachelorette parties, sweet 16s and more.
One reason that your customers decide to share? To elevate their status.
Drybar’s success in triggering such an energetic level of customer sharing raises a good question: Why do customers decide to share? One reason worth considering is the idea that a customer shares in order to elevate his status. A photo of a superb meal at a top restaurant is a source of pride as much as a memento (such as a souvenir menu) would be. Elevating status isn’t necessarily about spending money somewhere fancy; it can be a well-planned excursion to an isolated yurt that’s proudly shared socially, for example. Status these days looks different than it did in the old, more marketer-driven age of clearly graduated status increments such as the climb from Chevy to Cadillac.
One way purchases and experiences can increase a customer’s status is by turning your customer into a “discoverer” in the eyes of his friends, loved ones and casual acquaintances. As a study by The Futures Company recently showed, customers are taking more and more pride in discovering things for themselves—including products and services for sale—and in being recognized by their peer group for being “first.” The medium of exchange, in other words, is social currency. And any effort and creativity you can invest in finding ways to help customers collect this social currency for use in building and maintaining their own relationships with others will simultaneously help your business.
Micah Solomon is a customer service consultant, customer loyalty consultant, customer experience speaker and bestselling business author, most recently of High-Tech, High-Touch Customer Service
