Are You Creating an “Aha Moment” with Your Customers?

No doubt you’ve heard of the “aha moment” – when something happens that makes you think “so that's what it's all about.” One of my “aha moments” was when I started working with a new client called Dry Greening – a reusable dry cleaning bag that is both a tote for dropping off your dirty clothes at the cleaners and a hanging garment bag for the clean clothes you pick up from the cleaners.

A 100 percent recyclable bag, Dry Greening eliminates all those plastic dry cleaning bags that end up in the trash. Needless to say, I was inspired. Then I learned the bag was created by a stay-at-home mom who wanted to help the environment. I was impressed. Next, I found out Dry Greening was going to be the official “swag bag” for an Oscar after-party at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Los Angeles. Now I was ecstatic.

The Academy Awards plus helping the environment? I was in PR heaven. Here was a product that needed to be shared with the world. So we issued a “search-engine optimized” press release over the newswire, contacted local and national news outlets and sent bags with personal notes (who does that anymore? Us!) to the media – lots and lots of bags. Plus, we believed so much in the product we told everyone we knew about it – friends, neighbors, colleagues, etc.

The results?
More than 2,000 reads of the press release on PRWeb
A 300 percent increase in web hits
International, national and local media exposure (from Googlenews.com to Entrepreneur.com)
Consumer and trade press coverage (from Family Circle to American DryCleaner)
Calvin Klein™ called the company’s founder about a partnership (!)
Direct sales from PR efforts -- while our goal was to create exposure, it’s always nice to know consumers bought bags based on specific stories we placed.

I truly believe a big reason for the success of this PR campaign had to do with the “aha moment” media and consumers felt when they heard about the product. Reporters felt good writing about it and consumers/dry cleaners felt good buying the bag.

Now if you’re wondering “how can I create an ‘aha moment’ with my customers?” and are finding yourself stumped then contact us. You’d be surprised how one person’s “aha moment” can have a ripple effect on your company.

For example, after I started using Dry Greening I wondered ‘what other items could have a positive impact on my life?’ First, Costco reusable shopping bags; next, reusable water bottles for work; and finally, a bike. Instead of driving to work, I could bike weather permitting. Of course the bike purchase led to a helmet, basket, lock and pant guard. And now I think I need new casual clothes for biking.

No one said “aha moments” were cheap. But I don’t mind because it’s worth it for me to realize ‘this is what it’s all about.’

The Story Behind Stories

I want to tell you a story.

It’s a story about a kid from Massachusetts who goes to Washington D.C. and becomes one of the most influential voices in American politics by the age of 27.

Interested? Chances are you were before you ever read the first word of the second sentence. That’s because storytelling is one of the most powerful communications tools we have and one to which humans are automatically drawn. Just reading or hearing the words, “I want to tell you a story,” is enough to make most of us perk up, if only for a second, to find out what’s coming next.

OK. So many of you know the story referenced above is that of Jon Favreau, President Obama’s chief speechwriter. Not coincidentally, it’s storytelling that got Mr. Favreau to where he is today. In a profile in last Sunday’s Chicago Tribune, Favreau, who doesn’t give interviews, is purported to have told his friends his simple approach to successful speechwriting: “Tell a story. That’s the most important part of every speech, more than any given line. Does it tell a story from beginning to end?”

The lure of the story lies deep in our subconscious, and its value as a communications device is well documented. Researchers and authors, Chip and Dan Heath, identify Stories as one of the six rules for lasting and effective communications in their best-selling book, Made to Stick, which has become a bible of sorts at Taylor Johnson. (I cannot recommend this book enough). The Heath brothers say a story “provides simulation (knowledge about how to act) and inspiration (motivation to act).” In other words, stories generate action.

For the Obama-Favreau team, the most dramatic action to date was a vote. For those of us in business, we hope the action is a phone call, a visit, a click, a sale and – after the sale – a referral.

So make sure stories are a part of your communications repertoire. Are your stories engaging? Are they relevant to your audience and the problems your audience face? Are they getting out through the right channels? And are you backing them up with a parallel customer experience? If you’re answering these questions in the affirmative today, then chances are you’ll have an even better story to tell tomorrow.