Up Your Business is an exclusive GEARS Magazine feature in which I share stories, insights, and reflections about business and life challenges.
Despite its small size, Prescott, Arizona, is a tourist mecca and known for being the home of many great restaurants. So, when folks visit us from out of town, they ask us to recommend our favorites. Sue and I are always excited to share our recommendations and love taking our guests to our favorite spots.
Last January, some friends came to visit, and as usual, the restaurant conversation quickly ensued. We have several favorites, but one, in particular, has been our go-to spot as long as we’ve lived here. We’d eat there no less than two times in a typical month and often weekly. While we’ve enjoyed everything we’ve eaten there, our favorite is their homemade chicken pot pie – it’s like no other. So off to the Gurley Street Grill we went.
On the way, we raved about the chicken pot pie and that we’d never been disappointed with anything we ordered. Our friends took us up on the pot pie, and it lived up to our accolades. But I decided to try their BBQ baby back ribs. This is where the story took an unexpected turn.
When the server brought my ribs to the table, I asked if I could have some extra BBQ sauce. She replied, “They’re BBQ ribs; there’s already BBQ sauce on them.” Without hesitation, she added, “If you want extra BBQ sauce, there’ll be an upcharge of…” I had quit listening. At that point, it didn’t matter if it was 10 cents or 10 dollars; I was ticked and too stubborn to pay one cent extra. I told her that most places bring extra BBQ sauce and usually different flavors. She just looked at me like I’d grown another head and asked if she could get us anything else.
There’s more to the story, but the bottom line was that I was ticked, disappointed, and embarrassed. This happened in front of our friends after I’d raved about what a great place it was. Our friends thoroughly enjoyed their meals, but the restaurant lost a faithful customer over such a minor matter. Worst of all for them was that I didn’t bother to tell the management. I didn’t even give them a chance to make it right. I just went away with an attitude and no intention of returning.
You’re probably wondering what this has to do with you and your business. If you’ve read much about advertising and marketing, you’re aware that Top of Mind Awareness (TOMA) is the desired marketing objective for any business.
In a nutshell, TOMA is the key to your customers’ memory banks. It’s responsible for causing them to consistently think of your company whenever they need your services. TOMA also comes into play when somebody asks if they know a good repair shop, and they refer them to your shop. If you’ve established TOMA with someone, you own that part of their memory bank.
Besides advertising and marketing, many things contribute incrementally to establishing TOMA: word-of-mouth reputation, social media posts, and impressions through personal experiences are just a few.
By the way, while TOMA usually has a favorable connotation, TOMA can be unfavorable too. Like when somebody asks a trusted friend, “Do you know a good mechanic in the area?” The friend could respond, “No. But don’t go to XYZ Auto. I went there once, and I’ll never go back. They were rude, and I felt like they ripped me off!”
Do you think the restaurant in my opening story established TOMA with me? The fact that I’ve included that story in this article should answer that rhetorical question. And of course, it wasn’t good TOMA, was it?
What role do impressions play in establishing TOMA, and what do I mean by impressions? One definition that’s fitting for this article states, “An impression is an effect, feeling, or image that’s retained as a result of an experience.”
So, for our purposes today, an impression is the result of an experience. More specifically, the customer experience we provide in our shops.
We’ve all heard business gurus talk about the importance of making a good first impression. They say clever things like, “You only get one chance to make a first impression.” Some have gone so far as to say, “Your last impression is more important than your first impression. Just don’t make a bad first impression, or it could also be your last impression.”
I think these business experts have missed the boat with their cute platitudes. The only impression that matters when it comes to TOMA is the one that occupies the space in your customers’ memory banks. I call it the “lasting impression.” What’s Your Shop’s Lasting Impression?
Since impressions result from experiences, it’s prudent to consider all the available opportunities to make impressions throughout a customer’s experience with your shop. These opportunities exist at every customer “touchpoint.” Here are some common touchpoints that occur in your repair shop.
Some precede your first personal interaction with the customer: your advertising, your reputation, your signage and street appeal, and your social media reviews, for example.
Others occur during the first contact: your telephone greeting, your telephone procedures, your first face-to-face encounter – the meet and greet.
If you retain the vehicle, the majority of the touchpoints occur during the rest of the repair process: vehicle intake, service advising, diagnostic explanations, service recommendations (selling the job), the contacts to update the customer regarding the repair status, car delivery, post-delivery follow-ups, and warranty service, when required.
The challenge is that people are different. You never know what’s going to float their boat, or for that matter, what might tick them off. We already know that nobody wants to go through the car repair experience. Only a crazy person would wake up in the morning and say, “Oh boy! Today’s the day I get to take my car to the repair shop.” When you think about it, just making the repair experience palatable is quite an accomplishment. But if we only make it tolerable, it will not create a lasting impression.
Whether good or bad, lasting impressions occur when we say or do something extraordinary. Whether it’s extraordinarily good or extraordinarily bad, a deposit will be made in a customer’s memory bank. When your shop only meets their expectations, no memory bank deposit or lasting impression occurs. It’s just another burger at McDonald’s – not worth remembering or talking about. While the customer might return in the future, there will likely be no referrals or positive media posts, and TOMA is unlikely.
You never know when, where, or how what you say or do will make a lasting impression. As I detailed above, many touchpoints occur throughout an automotive repair service. The best advice I can offer is to treat each touchpoint as though it’s the one that will become your customer’s lasting impression. In today’s low-touch society, it only takes a little kindness and consideration to stand out. Be vigilant. Look for ways to make each touchpoint special.
It’s never too late to make a lasting impression. Recently, our friends Bruce and Donna invited Sue and me to attend a function in Phoenix and treat us to an early dinner afterward. The plan was to go to the event and eat on the way back at the Capital Grill. However, at the last minute, Sue pulled out because she wasn’t feeling well. With COVID-19 still in full swing, she opted to stay home but insisted I still go.
The restaurant was elegant but casual – business casual would be a good description. We had a very nice meal, and the service was good as well. When we ordered dessert, Bruce asked our server, Miranda, if they had something that would travel well. It was a warm day, and we still had almost two hours to drive home. He explained that my wife was feeling ill, and we wanted to bring something for her. Miranda suggested their cheesecake.
When Miranda brought the check, she gave us a couple of cards to fill out for a $100 Capital Grill gift card drawing. All in all, it was a pleasant experience, but not extraordinary.
I wouldn’t even have mentioned this story except for what occurred the following week. (I know what you’re thinking, but no, none of us won the drawing.) We each received a thank-you note from Miranda. It was a personal handwritten note, and mine included this line, “I sure hope your wife enjoyed our cheesecake that you took to her.” That wasn’t just a thank you card. It was a lasting impression maker! It proves that it’s never too late to make a lasting impression.
Additionally, there’s a happy ending to the Gurley Street Grill story. My granddaughter was visiting and wanted some comfort food for dinner. We were craving the chicken pot pie. So, we decided to give it another try. When we went in, the greeter asked where we’d been and if everything was okay with us. That opened the door for me to tell the manager what had happened. She was embarrassed and thanked me for telling her. She went about making a new lasting impression, and this time, it was a good one.
What’s Your Shop’s Lasting Impression? Are you building favorable TOMA by making lasting impression deposits in your customers’ memory banks? Make deposits early, late, and often. Couldn’t you do something as simple as sending handwritten thank-you notes to every customer? There’s no question that they make an impression – maybe a lasting one.
