I believe that we are in the service industry. The sponsorship industry is a service industry. We have to serve our partners and our clients and our audiences. Sure, sales and data and innovation and creativity and research and ROI measurement are all important aspects of the sponsorship marketing industry… without service the rest goes to hell in a handbasket pretty quickly.
So, I wanted to pontificate a little on service in our industry then tell you three really great service experiences I have had recently. But first the content then the story telling.
I don’t care how you look at it, we are a service industry. We all know, the Lord knows I have said this enough, we are in a relationship business… not a transactional one. Advertising is transactional. Sponsorship is relationship based. And as I spoke about back on August 26 in my TMC, the success of any sponsorship program is based on the premise and understanding and dedication to the Trifecta of Sponsorship. All three parts of sponsorship… the sponsor, the property and the audience need to win for a sponsorship to be successful. And all need to be serviced ongoing. Like any relationship we have to work at it.
This means as a property you need to work to ensure that your sponsors are happy. Do they need changes to their program, have things changed at their business that assets need adjusting or budgets need adjusting. You need to communicate effectively and efficiently and often with them. When a headliner change… they should know before the public. When you have data or information that is important to them (either through your property or something you read or saw or subscribe to) – share it with them. Treat them like your spouse and service them continuously.
The same goes for the brand or sponsor. When you have seen something at another property that you liked, share it with your other properties. Or if things change in your business, let your property know so they can adjust to fit your needs. The big service commitment for the sponsor is to the audience. For those people you met / engaged through the property… take care of them. Service them and they will reward you. This is a partnership, and the brand has as much service to deliver as the property.
We need to constantly be servicing our partners. Here are three examples of “service” above and beyond. These really blew me away and reminded me why I wanted to do business with them again and again.
- As most of you know, I travel a great deal. I travel coast to coast in our country and am on the road about 150 days a year. I believe in loyalty programs and am rewarded by them and appreciate it. But you know what to expect. They have a list on a chart that tells you when you are platinum or gold or silver or bronze… here is what you get. So, it is when they go above and beyond that you really take note. I am pretty much exclusive with Air Canada for air travel… flew WestJet recently during the Air Canada strike. So, a few months ago, I reached a new status. It turns out that I reached a threshold that in my lifetime since Aeroplan started, I have travelled a million miles with Air Canada. They sent me an email to let me know I had reached this unique level and what I got with it. (Basically, the best part was that I am Aeroplan 50K for life. No matter if I fly one flight a year or 500 flights a year, I am guaranteed for life the 50K status which includes lounge access and Zone 2 for boarding. Then two days later the WOW showed up. We are in a digital age and the email notification with a cool fireworks display and announcing me joining the Million Mile Club was all I expected. But two days later as I said, the WOW came. Nothing extravagant or anything but a courier package with new bag tags with the Million Mile Club logo on them, a welcome booklet of information and a model Air Canada Dreamliner plane on a stand with an engraved plaque with my name on it. And it all came in an oak box… pretty cool. So again, nothing extravagant or “of value” but they reminded me “I was special”. The model plane on the stand sits on my desk in Nanaimo.
- Another travel story… this time an IHG property… actually two. The first one is the Holiday Inn and Suites Calgary South – Conference Centre. I stay there a lot. It is my “go to hotel” in Calgary. I get all the regular stuff on the chart for my status level. I get a room upgrade automatically if available, I get a 2 pm check out, I get double the points and they always say “Thanks you for being a Diamond Elite member Mr. Barootes on check-in. But at this hotel property (where it is normally in the evening when I check in) there is a night manager who always greets me by name as I walk in the door. He always upgrades my room. He has the kettle ready for me in the room and a couple mini bars of Dove soap at the front desk. (I always as for a kettle to boil water for my tea and ask for bar soap versus the liquid soap they offer.). And two other front desk staff always recognize me as well. When I walk by in the morning to go outside to get my car, they always say “Good morning Mr. Barootes and welcome back.” At the Kimpton St George in Toronto the night manager is the same. Always recognizes me, always asks about my wife and daughter (both have stayed there with me on different occasions) and upgrades my room and has the bar soap for me (kettles are already in these rooms). These hotels make me feel special beyond the amenities I get for the price I pay as well as the expectations based on my membership or loyalty level. That is service above and beyond.
- The third story is about food. Amazing food. Lol… it is a donut shop in the Village of Horseshoe Bay where I catch the ferry to return from Vancouver to Nanaimo on Vancouver Island. I had seen this independent donut shop many times before as I waited for the ferry and went for a walk in the Village. But I had never been in… not supposed to eat those naughty (but delicious) food. And this is no Tim’s… really cool donuts and flavours and styles and such. Awesome. Anyway, one time my wife and I were coming back through Horseshoe Bay. I took her to see this donut shop called Goldie’s Donuts. She is NOT a big donut fan. She is very healthy, eats healthy, exercises and is amazing… hence why donuts are not on my “OK to have” list! But she ventured in with me. It was like 7:30 at night and they closed at 8. There was one other couple in the restaurant and sitting at a table. We narrowed it down to two donuts but could not decide which to go with (yes, we were splitting a donut… sacrilegious I know…). So my wife asked which one we should have. She asked Coryna a couple of questions and then said we should have one over the other. She said, “both are great but I think you will like this one better based on what you have told me”. So we decided to go with her suggestion. I paid for it and then she grabbed a box to put the donut in. It was a larger box and I though we don’t need that big box. Then she added the second one (and running through my head was “did she charge us for two… lol these are $5 or $6 donuts”. She smiled at us and said… you might as well try both, the second one is on us”. Talk about being wowed. (Yes, I know it was end of the night and they donate all their left-over donuts each night to the foodbank so it was going to be “thrown out” anyway…). She made an executive decision (and she was not the owner not even a manager… talk about empowered employees) and gave us the second donut for free. Not earth shatter but amazing service. From the asking my questions to the free donut there are full service restaurants I have been in that are not this good at service. They won us for life and even Coryna said as we walked away with our two donuts, we will go back there for sure when we are back in Horseshoe Bay. And I am looking forward to it.
Service is important. Service builds trust and relationships. In the sponsorship industry we need to stand out. Delivering memorable service makes you a success. I love this quote from the hospitality industry… it is so true and probably worthy of an entire TMC: “Customer service is about giving people what they want. Hospitality is about how you make people feel” Make people feel special, that is our job in the sponsorship industry.
If you want to hear more great sponsorship and service stories register today for the Western Sponsorship Congress® – Alberta Forum. Do it today because this time next week the event will be well underway, and I think there are only 2-3 seats left. And if you cannot make this event next week… you can always register for the Western Sponsorship Congress® – Saskatchewan Forum being held in Saskatoon in April.