Free Marketing: 101 Low and No-Cost Ways to Grow Your Business, Online and Off

CHAPTER 6

BEING IRRATIONAL IS GREAT MARKETING

You can't afford to offer anything less than irrationally generous, loyalty-building services and products. Remember: Each customer has a megaphone, so give them something over the top to shout about to their hundreds or thousands of listening friends.

The positive impact of being irrationally generous has never been more evident than it is now. It clearly pays to have a highly ethical and customer-centered business approach. The benefits are so obvious that even the most expensive customer-centered policies and activities, that used to be too far above and beyond expectations, are now on the table as a fantastic investment that will almost certainly and quickly pay you back.

You've been warned: The customer service activities that were previously considered irrationally overboard and were reserved for only top customers are now vital to your survival and success. That same service level should be used on all customers and it will pay off handsomely.

If you don't believe that the irrational customer service approach can be applied to any business then go do some research on the customer service habits of zappos.com (an online shoe seller) and you'll quickly see my point. Among their irrational policies is a 365-day return policy on any shoes. That's nuts, but it's working because of the viral power of their fan base that raves loyally and consistently online to an ever-growing network of contacts. When a zappos.com fan experiences ...