Surprises are cool. Surprises stick. Surprises set you apart.

You know the value of surprises don’t you?  I’ve seen a few cool surprises recently.

• When this doctor’s office gets your call that you’ll miss your appt but then sends an employee out to you (and your broken down car) a mile from the office just to keep you company while you wait for a tow truck and then drives you home; that’s a surprise.

 

• When the Tweet comes out with “Here’s a free e-book with 50 ways to build a social network” and the next day,  “Here’s 50 ways to be a sales rock star” and this is all good stuff with no strings attached and there is nothing you could even buy from this guy if you wanted to, that’s a surprise.

 

• When Sal, the Nashua, NH  furniture sales rep here, sends you a handwritten note a week after a sale stating it was “nice to meet you and Mary and little Billy”, even that’s a surprise.

 

These surprises happened to real people I know personally just over the last two weeks.  Surprises are powerful. Surprises get your attention. How are you surprising your customers?

Here are 5 surprises I bet small businesses would love:

• Send a Thanksgiving card to 50 of your best customers. Whether you work for a big company or for yourself, do it on your dime and on your time.  Nobody expects Thanksgiving cards in business but be thankful; these customers help you feed your kids.

 

• 4 hours after a small business places an order with you, call back and say “I had a minute and wanted to say thank you again for your business today, we really appreciate it”.  And then, hang up.

 

• Send training or sales or marketing tips to your clients.  They train, they sell, and they market too so they’ll appreciate it even if they only buy widgets from you.

 

• Give your last name right at the start of any interaction and spell it for the client, prospect or dissatisfied customer. You’d be surprised how surprisingly welcome that is for folks and how rarely it really happens.

 

• Connect via video when talking with a client, or arrange for a Saturday or Sunday presentation when the owner is in office and things are a little quieter, or just text everything back and forth cuz’ you know she does not want to take up the business phone line while talking with you.

 
Some surprises are surprisingly easy to do, others take a little more work but you get the idea; Surprises rock. Surprises differentiate. Surprises grow the business.

Get to know surprises well.

Till next time,

Grow The Business.

Mark