Our youngest son, Dylan, absolutely loves Christmas movies. Fortunately, we don’t have cable or the Hallmark channel, so we aren’t subjected to deeper levels of this madness. Even still, he was pushing Christmas movies before Thanksgiving.
My brother Steve came to visit for Turkey Day and Dylan convinced us to grab some popcorn and put on a holiday flick. In fact, we wound up watching the same movie back to back- just different versions. For some odd reason, none of us had ever watched The Miracle on 34th Street. Being such a classic, I truly thought I would have seen it in the past. Ironically, it was only because a DVD of the classic It’s A Wonderful Life was left inside of a DVD player that Dylan had bought at Goodwill a few years ago that we watched that movie. I guess we always just choose the modern stuff.
But here we were, cozied up on the couch watching the 1947 version of The Miracle on 34th Street. If you haven’t seen it, the department store C.F. Cole’s holds the Thanksgiving Day Parade, and on the morning of the parade, the Santa they had hired is drunk. In a panic, an executive asked a Santa Claus lookalike- who went by the name of Kris Kringle- to fill in.
Kringle does such a marvelous job that customers begin flocking to the store. Inside of the store, long lines snake around each day leading up to Christmas as Kringle patiently listens to each child describe what they would like for Christmas. What threw the executives off at C.F. Cole’s is that Kringle actually believed himself to be the real Santa Claus. As much as they enjoyed having him at their store- and the success that was coming from it- they kept a watching eye on Kringle because of his outrageous assertion of being the real deal.
But each step of the way, Kringle impressed them. Whether it was speaking a different language to a little girl that couldn’t speak English, or displaying a variety of thoughtful acts and deeper conversations, Kringle was obviously different than the run of the mill, fake beard wearing Santas that the department stores have gotten used to each Christmas. Kringle not only looked the part- all the way down to his fantastic beard and silver head of hair, but he displayed the character and characteristics of what we all hope a real Santa would display. And as silly as it sounds, the workers and customers had that look of wonder in even questioning for a moment if that really is Santa Claus.
That character was on full display when a customer asked for a certain item that C.F. Cole’s didn’t carry. This was a department store, after all. Yes, they brought in Santa to display the Christmas spirit but their true motive was to bring him in to then bring in customers to sell more stuff! They are a business and that was the purpose of their business!
So you could imagine the dismay of the store manager when he learned from a customer that Kringle was suggesting to their customers that they go to Gimbel’s- a competing department store- because that store had a better price. That was the opposite of what the executives wanted to happen! You could see by the look on his face that he planned to tell Kringle to stop recommending other stores. But before he could react in a negative way, the customer shared how much she appreciated that C.F. Cole’s had the best interest of the customer at heart, sending them to a different store, and that she was now a C.F. Cole’s customer for life and will be telling her friends as well.
The look on the executive’s face changed immediately.
You could see that he discovered an unconventional marketing tactic that nobody had ever done, which seemed to make no sense according to traditional business plans but, in human terms, actually worked. Because they weren’t looking to make every sale for themselves- they recognized that other stores might have better options, more variety or even better prices- customers truly trusted them. And because of that trust, they become faithful and long-time buyers.
And because of that, the Christmas season at the store was a smashing success. Even better, when Gimbel’s and other department stores learned of what Cole’s was doing, they reluctantly started doing the same thing.
The remake of A Miracle on 34th Street was made in the 90’s and the same theme carried throughout in a more modern way. And that makes tons of sense because character and doing business generously and honestly is a timeless method that would work in this era as well, if they chose to remake it again.
But in the real world, it’s not utilized enough. The hubris that our service or product is the perfect fit for everyone is delusional. It’s also shortsighted. By focusing on being everything for everyone, you miss out on two major components of marketing- collaboration and specialization.
In a past business of ours, we developed a specific niche with a unique style and approach. It wasn’t created for everyone. But with recommendations and word of mouth, we began getting inquiries from potential clients who wanted to work with us who were obviously not the right fit. They were looking for something that we didn’t provide, nor did we want to. But there were others who thrived with this type of work. As a service-based business, the only reason to take those jobs would be for the money. If we were desperate and greedy, we would have taken all of it.
Instead, we took the C.F. Cole’s approach. We suggested a few others who were the exact fit for what they were looking for. Technically, we could have done what they were asking for. But we wouldn’t have enjoyed it and we certainly wouldn’t have done it with the energy, passion and creativity as these other folks would. The funny thing is, at the time we recommended them, those “competitors” didn’t know who we were. But they noticed once referrals began coming in from us and they started profiting well from it. We didn’t ask for an affiliate or kickback- I didn’t want them to think we were looking to make money off of the recommendation.
About a month later, we received an inquiry from what appeared to be the perfect client. They got our style, approach and it was exactly what they were hoping for. They booked our highest priced package without hesitation. During the booking session, I asked how they heard of us. I ask that of every new or potential client. I was stunned that they said that the competitor that we were sending work to had sent this couple to us. The competition told them that we did what they were looking for best, and they really should reach out to us. Because of the recommendation- and the fact that our work truly lined up with what they were hoping for- made it the perfect match.
When you have your niche dialed in so much that you know exactly who it’s for- and exactly who it is not for- business gets simple. You get to hone in even more on what you do special- and attract those people as raving fans. At the same time, you use your wealth of connection to find those who do the wonderful work that you don’t do, and recommend them wholeheartedly.
Not only will it solidify the brand, style and identity of your work, but it will create referral streams of qualified clients (on price and style) and a referral network that can be much more valuable than any marketing plan or ad spend that you can put in place. Because of the trust built, our competition that we taught to go after and beat might actually be the greatest form of marketing that we could possibly ask for.
Have an AMAZING day!
Vincent
