Comments on: “Our Specials” to “You’re Special”

By: Scott Gould

Scott Gould — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 03:56:14 +0000

If you were giving out £10 – ppl would hear about it very quickly

By: Scott Gould

Scott Gould — Sun, 28 Feb 2010 17:26:41 +0000

And thanks for your humbleness too!

By: Carolyne Wildman

Carolyne Wildman — Sun, 28 Feb 2010 14:05:12 +0000

Hi Scott,I know the feeling – I too have fallen victim to the idea that sounds brilliant at 3am and less than great at 8am But at the very least it provided a springboard for another conversation when Robin & I talked about it over coffee the next day! Love your humbleness! Cheers, Carolyne

By: Witney Accountants

Witney Accountants — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 14:22:21 +0000

Scott I am not sure that I totally agree with you on this one. I could have a product called handing out £10 notes for free (great service believe me) but I dont tell anyone about it I wont have the opportunity to serve! Once you get going then the service sells itself but getting going surely you have to put your head above the parapet. Alan Kennedy

By: Rani Bora

Rani Bora — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 02:39:06 +0000

I haven't no. Thanks for the recommendation. Have checked it on amazon – sounds like a very interesting read.

By: Scott Gould

Scott Gould — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 16:12:52 +0000

Hey CarolyneAs you can see below, had a discussion with Robin on this too.The overall point is that in an Experience Economy, the delivery and experience is the selling itself. The restaurant that has exceptional service is the one that is known around town. It's advertising and sales is its service.But you're right – I liked the wordplay that I came up with yesterday and ran with a half baked idea at 3am. Thanks for picking me up on it!S

By: Carolyne Wildman

Carolyne Wildman — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 15:14:54 +0000

Hi Scott,Yikes! Are you always this magisterial in your posts? The art of selling is thousands of years old and I'm not convinced it will ever be *replaced* by anything; however, great service can certainly be one of the features offered by a great salesperson. Perhaps it's the brevity of your post that misleads me – an inchoate idea pushed out on the track before the legs have fully sprouted. I wonder if you became attached to the interesting play on words between “our specials” and “you're special” … and wanted to somehow use this concept before thinking deeply about the value of it's meaning. It's tempting to throw down snippets of amorphous thought and encourage others to put their hands to the potters wheel for shaping. This is the makings of common conversation, but not 'challenging thinking' n'est pas? I think you have much more to offer than this and I look forward to your next post.Cheers,Carolyne

By: Scott Gould

Scott Gould — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 14:59:45 +0000

“authenticity is key” – totally. And unless you believe “you are special” then theres no pooint.Have you read Pine and Gilmores book on Authenticity? Excellent for things like this.

By: Rani Bora

Rani Bora — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 14:40:57 +0000

Hi Scott and Robin,Agree – Assuming great service leads to great sales leads to disappointment, both for the salesperson and the customer. I once received excellent customer service and acknowledged the person for his skills However I was not going to buy despite it and the salesperson, out of desperation, tried even harder and harder to convince me. Soon I could see through it all. He was using all his skills to make me feel “I was special” at a superficial level. What he failed to understand was that, I as a customer had no obligation to buy if I still didn't want to. His body language gave way and communicated something like “I have wasted my time here”. While serving hard with the “You are special” hat on is definitely commendable, authenticity is key.Best wishes,Rani

By: Scott Gould

Scott Gould — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 14:30:23 +0000

I humbly agree. Thanks for talking it through.This is the danger of having nice sayings that have aliteration but aren't really correct!