The Mesh - Lisa Gansky [36]
Trials provide a perfect way for people to discover the joy of a Mesh lifestyle one product or service at a time. In the Mesh, offers are bite-size. Customers can reach a comfort level with a service before committing to let go of something they own. This “tapas” style allows the market to grow organically as potential customers respond to easy-to-accept offers. They learn to love the Mesh at their pace.
delight is contagious!
Let’s imagine I’m starting a bike-sharing company with two kinds of bicycles. I plan on adding a third type, cargo trike, in six months. In that case, I’d better not sell people today on tomorrow’s offerings. A better approach is to let early customers know that they’re part of a business that’s just starting and eager to engage with them. Solicit their input. What other types of products, tools, or services would they like to see? When the first few cargo trikes come in, I can offer them to early customers for a free trial and uninhibited feedback. I haven’t overpromised. I’ve overdelivered. The likely result: wildly enthusiastic and hopefully vocal customers, and thoughtful, enthusiastic product reviews to share with my vendors. Earn the trust. Expand from there. Give more value than the customer expected for the time and money she spent. Tease out ideas for better service and mild complaints from happy customers rather than waiting for loud, unhappy comments with social momentum.
Beyond being reliable, the onus is on the Mesh business to consistently delight and even amaze customers. Blow them away with the service. Why? Well, Mesh businesses have the tools to give concierge service to everybody in their network. When customers engage with a Mesh company, they will likely tender information about their requirements, expectations, and desires—and potentially those of some friends and colleagues. Mesh businesses use that data to create an intimate transaction that makes them “feel the love.” With the data a Mesh business can “micro-cast” offers to individual customers or small segments that cannot be well served by other companies. And as the commercial climate becomes increasingly competitive, customer expectations ramp up.
The richness of the information I can provide a Mesh business, as well as its ability to partner with other companies, gives that business a better understanding of who I am and what I need. It can then get it to me when I want it. With the infrastructure available to collect meaningful data about customers, the imperative is to make well-tailored, irresistible offers regularly. That’s the core of what makes the Mesh payoff. Customers know the business is paying attention to them. Each transaction provides another chance for them to experience the brand and the service and renew that faith.
It’s important in any business to make a customer feel that she matters. There are many good examples. A café knows exactly what type of overpriced caffeinated drink a particular engineering student likes before he steps up to place his order. A tailor or dry cleaner e-mails or texts a professor to let her know her clothes are ready. Amazon creates a “personal store” shaped by a book lover’s past purchases and invites her to a special reading event. Netflix puts so much value in bubbling up “always better” suggestions for each customer that they run a $1 million contest to improve their recommendations formula.
When a company makes each and