Customer Appreciation: How Far Would You Go?

Most consumers have run across customer appreciation stunts at least a few times over the years; those rather odd promotional activities that fall somewhere between advertising and value-added, in a (usually vain) attempt to create customer loyalty in people who would otherwise have no particular attachment to the business. Some of these are little more than expensive fiascos, while others can work surprisingly well; the question is how many resources are you willing to devote to an activity which, even if successful, will mainly generate intangibles (e.g. goodwill and customer loyalty)? Can your business afford to take all of your clients to Las Vegas for the weekend, or would a weenie roast in your parking lot make more sense? Should you offer your customers an item that cost you 25 cents to make and 30 cents to mail for “free” if they just pay you $4.95 shipping and handling (as credit card companies are wont to do), or play it straight and send out free calendars and fridge magnets with your contact information on them?

Before you answer that question, you might want to consider the customer appreciation stunt that the owner of a small greeting-card shop in New York is putting on this Holiday season. According to a news story in the New York Daily News if you spend $50 or more on cards (or any other purchase) the owner, a former exotic dancer, will perform the pole dance of your choice. The performances are described as “R-rated” and will probably draw some fire from some blue-nosed public crusader eventually, but for the moment the stunt seems to be working: the store is bringing in unusual amounts of both foot traffic and purchases, and the owner intends to go on performing for anyone who wants her to…

Now, if we consider this promotion from a strictly business standpoint, it would appear to be very clever. Since the owner has to be present in the shop during the hours of operation anyway, and since the dance performances do not prevent her from conducting any other aspect of her business, they value she is adding to the purchase of greeting cards (and stripper paraphernalia, if desired) effectively costs the business nothing. If she had to employ a dancer to conduct this promotion we would have to subtract the cost of employing such an individual from whatever incremental increase in business the dances bring in, but since the owner is doing these performances herself during regular working hours, any increase should drop straight to the bottom line…

Of course, no business can exist in a vacuum. Some people will question the morality (or propriety) of combining stationery and exotic dancing into one business, or at least question whether the point of this business is actually greeting cards or pole-dancing. However, if the owner obeys all local ordinances and does not in any way harm anyone it’s hard to imagine how this supplementary service would be any different from a coffee house offering open-mike poetry night or a bar offering live music in order to draw more customers, add value to their business transactions, and improve the bottom line. The real question would be, how far would you be willing to go to promote your own business by creating new and unprecedented value for your customers? I’m not saying your competition is about to introduce pole-dancing or any other non-traditional customer appreciation program to their repertoire, but apparently you never know…