Not long ago, a MarketingProfs colleague in Orange County, California, ordered an extra-large pizza from Gina's Pizza and Pastaria—a small, local chain known for its high-quality ingredients. When he went to pick it up, the manager asked, "Do you have a coupon? I see you've purchased three of these pizzas in the past few months, and they should have had coupons on the box."
The colleague replied that he'd seen them, but the most recent one he received came with an expiration date that had already passed. On hearing this, the manager frowned and said that was unfortunate because they were hoping customers would take advantage of the various specials. "Well, why don't we use this one right now?" he said as he took a flyer from the counter, trimmed the pertinent offer and scanned it into the register. "See, we just saved almost five dollars."
It was something the manager didn't have to do. Our colleague hadn't raised the issue, and didn't mind paying the full price for the pizza. But the experience had a remarkable impact on the way he viewed the restaurant: for the relatively low cost of $4.90, Gina's converted a satisfied customer into a loyal customer.
The Po!nt: It's one thing to distribute coupons, but actively encouraging their use can take their payoff to an entirely new level.
Source: To learn more about Gina's Pizza and Pastaria, click here.
by Christina "CK" Kerley
Comments
by Steve Pickens - D4Demand Thu May 21, 2009
Past Marketing-Profs forum questions have focused on measuring ROI as if it were the only measurement that matters. My position is that the job of marketing is not simply generating income or ROI but finding ways to add value to the purchase.
Thank you for proving my point with this example.
by Michael Shank Thu May 21, 2009
Unfortunately, from my experience, very few companies really want people to use the coupons, or any other benefit for that matter. They hope to give what I refer to as 'false benefit.' Take rebates for example, Ignoring the fact that if companies really wanted to help/impress/keep customers they wouldn't make them go through the hassle of rebates, but would instead make it something the retailer/vendor/company itself should do internally, they now go to 'money cards.'
There is a huge portion of this money that never gets used for various reasons: they get lost, they get forgotten, or in the worst, they are extremely difficult to get down to zero. So, in essence, the company doesn't really rebate the full amount. My guess is they save at least 5-10%, and perhaps more. Whereas, if they issued checks the full amount gets cashed. So, it is beancounters doing the marketing; not true customer service oriented feelings. This, unfortunately is how so much of this country's firms are working today. Sad, really sad, the level of sincerity is very low. What was good in this example is that the owner of the pizza parlor really was sincere....that is how I measure true marketing...is it sincere or are we just trying to get public relations bang for the buck? Let's call ourselves green, regardless of how much green we really are....When is this sincerity going to be the reality?
by Jim Carroll Fri May 22, 2009
And just how many people do you think he told about his experience at the store. Great way to change a customer from a satisfied or loyal customer to a word of mouth evangelist for the store. Customer service in action!
by MIke Marn Thu Jun 4, 2009
Had a great experience with Omaha Steaks. I was given several gift certificates for judging ad awards in Nebraska, but misplaced them. Wrote it off. Then I get an E-mail from the company, not only reminding me to use them before they expired, but giving me the NUMBERS of my certificates to redeem; I didn't even HAVE to find them. I think too many business folks would hide, and high-five one another when the expire date came.
So consider this more positive word-of-mouth. I've never send food as a client holiday gift, but maybe next time around....
by Annalita Costa Thu Jun 11, 2009
Thank you so much for the wonderful post about Gina's Pizza. We'll continue to create a amazing experience for our customers and hope to see you there!!