The other day I was waiting in line at Starbucks and noticed a display of coffee mugs that were selling for $8.95. My first thought was that another coffee cup was the last thing I needed. And, if I were going to buy one, I likely wouldn’t pay full price. I’d look around for a mug with a bright red price sticker on it because, after all, a mug’s a mug. Right?

Maybe not. Alongside the mugs, I noticed a conspicuous display card containing a bit of background information on the mug. It read:

SAFARA MUG

Made by potters in Toki City, Japan, using techniques passed from generation to generation for more than 400 years.

$8.95

No longer was this “just another coffee mug.” It was a unique piece of pottery that had been crafted by artisans with specialized knowledge that had been passed down from one generation to the next. And no longer was a selling price of $8.95 too high. It appeared reasonable, given the origin and craftsmanship of the mug.

Now, I have no illusions that this mug will appreciate in value and one day become a collector’s item worthy of a display case in the Smithsonian. That’s not the point. The point is that this commodity, a coffee mug, had been transformed into a piece of art by simply adding 19 words of unique knowledge.

Unique knowledge is interesting, unexpected, and adds value to the customer experience. It’s not ordinary or predictable. It’s sexy in the sense that it attracts attention. You notice it. It’s unique and memorable.

Consider your own products and services. How can you add value by including unique knowledge—a story that will captivate your customers, reposition your offerings as anything but commodities, and justify your price premiums?

I met with a colleague this morning who shared a great story to underscore the importance of reinforcing trust with customers. Trust is a two-way street: customers have to trust the companies with whom they do business and companies have to trust the customers they serve.

If customers don’t trust your company for some reason, you probably won’t know it because they don’t do business with you anyway. They are a part of that elusive pool of prospective customers you may be trying to reach through advertising and marketing efforts.

But what about the customers who do trust your company? Are you reciprocating by trusting them too? The easy answer is “Yes, of course we do!” But the harsh reality is that that’s not always the case.  Consider the following true story I heard from my colleague, Brian, this morning:

There is a regional coffee chain that competes with Starbucks. Like most chains that compete with Starbucks, they have their hands full. It is in their best interest to do everything possible to differentiate themselves from the coffee giant. One way this chain had been successful doing that was through a loyalty program involving those familiar punch cards. Customers received a punch on their loyalty card for each cup of coffee purchased. When the card was filled with punches, the customer’s next cup of coffee was free.

Brian had amassed a stack of these cards over time containing a sufficient number of punches entitling him to several complimentary cups of coffee. One morning, he remembered to pull out one of the completely filled punch cards to “pay” for his coffee.

As he passed the punch card to the employee behind the counter as payment, the employee said, “Sorry, we don’t accept those anymore.”

My colleague said, “Why not?”

The employee then said, “Someone stole our punch and passed off a lot of fraudulent punch cards for free cups of coffee, so we stopped honoring them.” The implication being that perhaps his loyalty cards had been fraudulently punched.

I asked Brian what happened next and he said that he paid for the coffee but has not been back since. I asked how long ago this took place and he said it was about two and a half  years ago.

Now, think about this. Here’s a loyal customer who had been buying enough cups of coffee to completely fill several loyalty punch cards who, one day two and a half years ago, decided to stop patronizing this company (at any of its locations) because one of its employees did not trust that his punch cards were authentic.

Let’s do a little math on what this breach of trust may have cost this chain of coffee shops. We’ll be conservative and assume that he paid on average $2.00 per cup of coffee only once per week and that I’m the only person he’s shared this negative experience with—though it’s safe to assume he has told this story to many others!

• $2.00 (per cup) x 50 cups (1 per week x 50 work weeks ) = $100 per year in lost sales
• $100 (annual lost sales) x 2.5 years (period of customer absence) = $250 in lost sales to date!

What would it have actually cost the company if he had TEN completed punch cards? Two dollars? Three dollars? Let’s say it was ten dollars! That short-sighted decision to question the legitimacy of Brian’s punch cards—and, by doing so, his trustworthiness—has cost this coffee chain a minimum of $240 and counting…

This is not an oversimplification. This is happening to some degree in every business that opened its doors to serve customers this morning! This company’s relationship with Brian, like all relationships, was based in large part on mutual trust. But this trust had been severed two and half years ago by a frontline employee who challenged the authenticity of Brian’s claim to a free cup of coffee.

Communication, like trust, is a two-way street. I’d love to receive your thoughts and opinions.

Customer service reps who make me laugh create positive memories for me—of them, the service experience, and the company or brand they represent.

Using appropriate humor is an authentic way for employees to express their uniqueness while making it memorable for customers.

Here’s an example from my local Starbucks drive-thru. I pulled up to the speaker to place my order and the conversation went something like this:

Me: “I’d like a Double Shot with Energy.” (Note: Energy is a supplement that Starbucks adds to its beverages upon request.)

Barista: “I’m sorry but we’re out of Energy this morning.”

Me: “Yeah, I can hear it in your voice.” : )

Barista: “Oh wait! I lied. I found some more Energy!”

Me: “Yeah, I can hear it in your voice.” : )

I then pulled up to the drive-thru window where I was greeted with:

Barista: “Was that a Grande Double Shot with Energy?”

Me: “Yes. Sorry—I don’t think I mentioned the size.”

Barista: “That’s okay. I’m psychic. I heard it in your voice.” : )

Me: “Ha! Ha!”

Compare this exchange with a typical drive-thru interaction at a quick service restaurant. What’s different about it? It was so unique to me that I’ve already shared the story with dozens of people and have blogged about it.

When so many retail transactions are characterized by indifference, experiences like this one are a breath of fresh air!

I welcome your comments—if you have the energy! ; )