How to underpromise and overdeliver...

> Out of all the different business segments I
> have transactions with the catalog industry
> is constantly at the top when it comes to
> exceeding my expectations as a customer.
> Here is a good example.

> A couple weeks ago I received a catalog from
> "Penzeys Spices"
> (www.penzeys.com), and as you can tell from
> the name they are a catalog company that
> deals in culinary spices. As I've gotten
> older I've found a greater appreciation for
> what quality spices do for a meal... but
> anyway. My wife and I went though the
> catalog, jotted down some products and
> placed an order for $40 worth of stuff. The
> box arrived yesterday.

> The first thing I noticed when opening the
> box was the packing slip on top. The
> computer generated packing list was signed
> by two people, one with a "Thank
> You". While they didn't identify their
> positions I assume one was the
> "picker" and the other the
> "packer". The signed packing slip
> was a nice touch.

> The second thing I noticed was that they
> included a "shipping" catalog. A
> shipping catalog is just a copy of the
> companies catalog tossed in with the rest of
> the order. At one catalog company I worked
> with, we use to "create" a
> shipping catalog by just making a new cover
> for an existing catalog.

> This part is pretty important. Having a
> shipping catalog is perhaps the best reason
> in the world, for any type of business what
> so ever, to create a catalog. The response
> rates to shipping catalogs are
> astronomical... I've seen the numbers for
> several types of businesses and
> "shipping" or "delivery"
> or "fulfillment" catalogs can mean
> a big difference for your bottom line. I'm
> shocked that few businesses outside the
> catalog industry use them. They make the job
> of upselling or cross-selling so much
> easier.

> As I pulled the items out of the box and
> unwrapped them I soon found I had unwrapped
> 5 items--while I knew darned well we only
> ordered 4. I picked up the "odd"
> item and found it to be a bottle of Italian
> Dressing herbs that could be used to make
> our own dressings. I looked at the packing
> list to see if I got hosed and found the
> bottle of Italian herbs to be a
> "freebie" for just placing an
> order.

> The hand written "Thank You" was
> good. The addition of the shipping catalog
> enthralled me as a marketing geek. But the
> "free" bottle of spices put me
> over the edge. They exceeded by expectations
> as a customer. How often do the companies
> you deal with exceed your expectations?
> Probably not many. Everyone seems to do just
> enough to get by or to meet the level of the
> competition.

> I'm ashamed to admit we did exactly that
> with our retail store... that's probably why
> we no longer have a retail store. We didn't
> do anything to exceed the expectations of
> the customer. We did what everyone else did.
> Unfortunately most retail, restaurants and
> other face to face type businesses commit
> the same sin. They are in the perfect
> position to underpromise and overdeliver but
> few do...

> The catalog companies realizing they don't
> have the same face to face contact go all
> out to overdeliver. Amazon seems to
> overdeliver but few Internet based companies
> or individuals I deal with ever do. I don't
> consider a follow-up email to be an
> overwhelming event... and certainly not
> something that will separate one company
> from another.

> What was the last company you dealt with
> that knocked your socks off?

> Take care,

> Mike Winicki

greetings Mr. W.,
i, like you had similar service from a book co. a few weeks back by the name of Canon Press out of Moscow, Idaho. these folks included a 125 pp book in addition to the two i ordered @ no charge. doing the same thing you mentioned, i scanned the sheet looking for the 'charge' of the third book. imagine my surprise and delight as it indicated FREE! these people know what they are doing. they are building customers. i'm sure they see down the road to their giving away things in lieu of doing the same old stuff. becca. p.s. i'm at the age now that i'd rather pay for quality, both in product and service , than run to the nearest you-know-who :D !