I’m convinced that the solution to most marketers’, and businesses’, problems lies in hiring people who care.
I love the company, Life is Good. Not only because of their great story, fantastic products and their name, but also because of their slogan, which is something to the effect of: “Do what you love. Love what you do.”
That says it all. “Passion-centric” is the buzzword we are hearing that describes people who are brought together by a common passion.
If we have passionate people on our teams, who truly care about what we’re promoting and offering, then they serve as the best ambassadors we could hope for. They reflect the best aspects of our business.
One great example I have of this involves a hotel in Salt Lake City.
About a year ago, our middle son, Hayden, had to get a lump removed from his neck. It was his third such surgery and every time the lump came back it consumed us with worry. What if it’s cancer? How we hated to see our 6-year-old go through another surgery.
The Children’s Hospital in Salt Lake City is phenomenal, and at 5 hours from where we live in Lander, WY, it was the best option.
We booked a stay at the Shilo Inn, in downtown Salt Lake. Upon booking the reservation, the attendant on the phone asked me what brought us to Salt Lake. I told her the brief story about our 6-year-old having surgery scheduled to remove a lump from his neck at the nearby Children’s Hospital.
We booked a room and a week later, arrived.
During check-in, the attendant remembered us and said she was praying for us and wishing us a great stay. She’d be thinking of our son, and of us, she said, as we checked in.
When we got to our room, there was a gift basket, complete with a card for Hayden, and beach balls for all three of our sons for the swimming pool.
To say that touched us during what would be a truly worrisome stay is an understatement. It moved us… and had the effect to make our sons happy and to take Hayden’s mind off the surgery.
Following the surgery, we returned to our room. Rachel Bremer, the marketing/sales person, sought us out and asked us how Hayden’s surgery came out.
The concern was genuine. Way more than I would have expected from a simple hotel reservation and hotel stay.
And I’ll tell you what, the Shilo Inn could have a train track right outside it and we’d always stay there when we visit Salt Lake City.
The care and concern showed for us during our stay spoke volumes and will never be forgotten. They won us over. Their people won us over.
(BTW, Hayden’s operation that time was a success; the lump was not cancerous. So far so good – it has not returned.)