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Disaster and Recovery:
“HORDE OF NEW CUSTOMERS” EDITION
Like the problem of having too much money, having too many customers is
usually a good problem to have—but it can still be a tough scramble if the
customers all arrive at once and a key supplier isn’t ready. Here’s what
David Wachtendonk, the founder of a party planning business in Chicago,
learned when he received two thousand more customers than expected for a
promotion.
In June 2010 our company participated in a Groupon. We did some
research, and it appeared this could be a good avenue for our company to
get some exposure for a new concept we wanted to launch in Chicago. After
some discussion with the Groupon guys, we agreed it would be a match
made in heaven. Our last remaining task was to find a venue that could
support the deal. After some initial opportunities fell through, we found a
new restaurant that agreed to work with us.
The day the deal went live, we had no idea what was about to happen.
Our Groupon rep estimated we would sell about 1,000 to 1,500 units … but
3,300 units later, the day ended. We thought we had systems in place to deal
with growth, but unfortunately we became overwhelmed. The phone was off
the hook and emails poured in, which we fielded to the best of our ability.
Most of the customers were fairly understanding as we were a small
business, but not everyone was nice about it.
We found out after the deal had launched that the restaurant was in the
middle of rebranding to a sports bar, which is not the ideal situation for a
dinner theater. Their clientele changed, the atmosphere was evolving, and
the owner of the business did his best to accommodate us. Unfortunately,
your best isn’t always good enough, and our new customers let us know it.
We worked tirelessly with their team to get them up to speed on how to
handle large groups and even provided our own on-site hostess and
manager for the majority of the shows with the hopes of improving the
experience. Due to things out of our control, the quality didn’t meet
expectations at first—service became sloppy, and the overall experience
was diluted. The first few shows were challenging, but over time the
experience got better. Forty-seven shows later, we finally wrapped things
up.
Our company had done its research and what we thought was adequate
due diligence for the deal, but our efforts fell short. We should have been
more proactive and done a better job communicating expectations to our
customers. Thankfully, our team made it through the experience and can
live to tell the story. The question people ask me all the time is, “Would you
do another Groupon?” The honest answer is that I would. Along with the
challenges the Groupon presented, it provided exposure that traditional
marketing never would have achieved.
As with everything else in life, it’s important to keep your word with
launches. If your offer ended at a set time and you had a big response,
you’ll invariably be contacted with requests for exceptions after it’s over.
It’s tempting to take more money, but if you said it would end at a set time,
you need to stick to your decision. In the long run, this works in your favor,
because people will realize that you mean what you say. Karol and Adam
received numerous requests for their bundled package after the seventy-
two-hour period had ended, but they politely declined each one.
One more thing: If you admit to a flaw, weakness, or limitation in your
product, this will probably help instead of harm you. This is because when
we are evaluating a purchasing decision, we like to consider both the
strengths and the weaknesses. If a product developer personally tells us it’s
not perfect—“and here’s why”—we tend to trust him or her more.
You can see this style of messaging in President Obama’s 2012 reelection
campaign. An early ad in favor of reelection contained the following
statement from a supporter: “I don’t agree with Obama on everything, but I
respect and trust him.” Meanwhile, an ad that launched the same week
against reelection contained the following statement from someone who
was opposed: “I like Obama, but I just don’t understand his policies.”
These are essentially the same statements, flipped around to place the
emphasis on what each side wants voters to believe. Each message contains
both an admission of uncertainty and an argument, thus making both
pitches a good fit for independent voters who haven’t made up their minds
yet.
†
In all the messages you send (whether delivered via email or in another
way), you’ll want to be mindful of several qualities. The first and most
important is what we’ve mentioned already: the need to tell a good story.
On its own, however, a good story isn’t always enough. You also need to
think about “relatability” and timeliness. Relatability, which may or may
not be a real word, refers to the need to ensure that the people who hear
about the launch can relate to it. Do they see themselves in the characters in
your story, and can they clearly understand how it will help them? Do they
get it?
The final factor is timeliness, and it can be the critical difference between
good results (“We did OK”) and great results (“We killed it!”). Without
timeliness, customers may evaluate the offer and agree that it’s interesting,
but fail to take action because there is no need for them to do so right away.
You don’t want to pressure people into buying if they’re not ready, but you
do want to instill a sense of urgency. That’s why a good launch always
factors in a concern for timeliness.
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