Do You Know Your Norms?

(Today we welcome Jennifer Olson to The Daily Blur guest stage.  Jen has a passion for people who find success in all things – family, business, sports, et all. She is a closet marketer, and special event planner; living day-to-day as a business lender. Why? To provide benefits for self-employed husband, bank supports her not-for-profit involvement and allows her to play some [really bad] golf… but most importantly, gives her the chance to work with those special, magical people called entrepreneurs!  If you want to driver Jennifer crazy, just say, “I’ve always wanted to do that/go there”….or eat at a chain restaurant, especially while traveling.)

Consumers want to do business with businesses that they feel are “their place.”

In other words, everyone is Norm looking for Cheers.  Their Cheers is the place where their favorite beer is sliding down the bar before their butt is in their seat…the place where they can chit chat with their favorite bartender.   You know, “where everybody knows your name.”

In this special business-customer relationship, even a word that normally has negative, or neutral context, becomes special.  “What’ll you have, the usual?”  I can’t think of another situation where the word “usual” makes someone feel so special.  Their place is where the customer might hear “hey, it’s been a while,” or “we just got some of your favorite product.”

Customers take pride in having a place where they can take their friends, or a service they can recommend to others.  It almost goes beyond relationship, into a sense of ownership. The Norms-of-the-World can be a business owner’s best friend, because they truly want to see that business succeed, and are willing to do their part with suggestions and word of mouth promotion.

Do you know your Norms?

PS: You don’t get to pick them, they pick you…but you, the business, can nurture them into a spectacular business asset!