One night a few weeks ago we ordered pizza for dinner.
We ordered from the same place we always do but this time something different happened.
After about thirty minutes the doorbell rang and there was the young pizza delivery guy with our dinner.
He handed us our pizzas, we paid for them. And then he pulled out something else from his warming container.
It was wrapped in a sack and as he held it he explained that they had a promotion going on. He had a kid’s pizza and wanted to know if there were any neighbors that we would like to give that pizza to.
Immediately we thought of our neighbors across the street who have three little boys. With that, the pizza delivery guy went next door with the surprise pizza present and gave it to our neighbors.
Now why is this so cool? First off, it’s a unique idea that gets people talking about it. Creating buzz is a great way to grow your business. And second, everyone benefits – here’s how:
How Everyone Benefits
1) The pizza company gets to interact with a new customer and they are welcomed as they do it. Think about it, if someone knocked on your door out of the blue (even if it looked like a real pizza delivery guy) and said he wanted to give you pizza, would you take it?
Maybe, maybe not. You might be a bit suspicious. But because the pizza was sent by us, neighbors they know, they probably didn’t think twice about accepting it.
I don’t know about you, but I would be delighted to get a free pizza from my neighbor.
2) We felt great because we got to give our neighbors a free surprise without having to do anything.
3) The neighbors got a free pizza from us (via the pizza company). That builds good will between us as neighbors.
So what does this story have to do with your business and how you market your products and services? You can take this idea and creatively apply it to your business to create the same kind of ripple effect.
If you can, take fifteen minutes right now and think about how you could implement this concept into your business. If you don’t have time now, schedule time in the coming days and outline a plan to implement.
What to Give
So what could you give to people in your network (clients, partners, and friends) that they could give to someone in their network? It needs to be something valuable that people want, a sample or taste of one of your products or services.
How to Present the Gift
Although the pizza example is a product the same concept applies to services. You can share tasty information by creating a physical representation of your services (printed report, CD, or DVD).
Creating something that can be consumed immediately (like the pizza) will have a strong impact.
When & How Often to Give
It can be a quarterly, semi-annual, annual, or a one time action. Depending on your business you can tie it to a holiday or season (or both). You can also make it a permanent action if it works well for you.
If you do something original and buzz worthy your business will stand out and get noticed. I hope you’re starting to see that you can design a surprise give away (like the kid’s pizza) that will increase your visibility, expand your reach, and build new connections.
© Stephanie Ward
WANT TO USE THIS ARTICLE IN YOUR NEWSLETTER, BLOG, OR WEBSITE? You can, as long as you include this information with it: Stephanie Ward is the Marketing Coach for Entrepreneurs who want to create prosperous and meaningful businesses. Grab your FREE copy of the special report ‘7 Steps to Attract More Clients in Less Time’ plus business building tips, at: https://www.fireflycoaching.com.
Share your thoughts on this below in the comments section. What could you give to people you know that they could in turn offer to their connections?
