Product and Solution Focused
Windstar Cruising. It was absolutely was one of the best vacation experiences of my life.
My wife and I went on a ship that was literally one-tenth the size of a ship that I used to work on, it was a yacht. The larger ships have everyone lining up in different places, except for a VIP experience to get you onboard if you reach platinum status with them. Windstar was different. The level of customer service was so unique and different. Instead of many people rolling into a ship, they had staged waiting areas for different sets of people. However, not just different waiting areas but they provided you with a cool towel to refresh yourself after baking in the hot Caribbean sun. They didn’t just have water to drink from a spigot and plastic cups. They offered cold water with ice cubes and a slice of lemon.
Windstar went beyond this, however, to set themselves apart from the competition.
In their high-end dining room, they created a unique culinary experience, a solution based experience customized to you, their valued customer. When you sit down in their dining room you are handed an iPad which allows you to then pick and choose, with the recommendation of your maitre’d, your menu options and dining pairings for that evening. This also was approximately six years ago, when iPads were not that prevalent yet. Talk about the impact!
Let’s look at how you can apply this to your business. How can you jump from product-focused, selling tangible items, to solution-focused? Here’s one way: If you are just conducting the transaction and never talk to them again, you’re losing referrals. Be a resource. Send them an email once a month with different tips based upon what they purchased and what they may be interested in in the future based upon their purchase.
This simple little task can provide opportunities for upselling while providing a solution AND make you more money. WIN WIN.
The above is meant to provide you with inspiration to find ways to improve your bottom line while also providing solutions for your clients vs. just strictly focusing on selling your products or services. Solution-focused businesses make more money and gain more referrals vs. ones who strictly sell a service.