When I was 12 years old, I started my first job delivering newspapers.
It was for my hometown paper called the Times-News.
Each afternoon, the newspaper company dumped a pile of papers on my driveway. I had to roll them up, fit a rubber band around each one, and pile them into my shoulder bag.
Then I’d hop on my Schwinn ten-speed bike and pedal a couple of blocks to deliver them to neighbors. That was the easy part.
The hard part was collecting money each month. This was in the early 80s, before online payments, so I had to go door-to-door.
One of my customers was an elderly woman who lived by herself. The first time I met her, she was mad.
She complained about where I tossed her paper each afternoon. She didn’t want it on the driveway; she wanted it on her porch.
I had never had a dissatisfied customer before, so I stood there speechless with my mouth hanging open. As a final insult, she wagged a finger in my face and refused to pay.
I biked home bruised and shell-shocked. When I talked to my parents about it that night, they gave me incredible advice. And... it solved the problem almost immediately.
It’s wisdom I’ve carried with me for the last forty years.
What did they tell me?
“Brian, be kind to her, and she may turn out to be your best customer.”
“Be Kind To Her, And She May
Turn Out To Be Your Best Customer.”
To the ears of a 12-year-old, that sounded ridiculous, like I could jump on my pogo stick to the moon. There was absolutely, positively, no way this lady could be nice. I was convinced about that. Period.
But I gave it a shot. More to appease my parents than anything else.
Each afternoon, when I arrived at her house, I jumped off my bike and walked her paper to the front porch. She was the only customer who got that type of special delivery. I did this for a full month, never seeing her.
And then it came time for payment day again. I dreaded it. I can remember my nerves walking to her door and ringing the doorbell.
But this time, she greeted me differently. Gone was the Wicked Witch of the West. Now she had kind eyes.
“Thank you, young man,” she said with a smile, “for delivering my paper to the porch. I have trouble walking and it makes it much easier for me.”
She wrote a check and then surprised me with a big cash tip.
For the rest of my time as a newspaper carrier, she waved to me each day, offered me cookies, and tipped me extra money (which fueled my baseball card collection).
My parents were right. All the way until the day I “retired,” she turned out to be my best customer.
Does Your Marketing Show Kindness?
Kindness works wonders.
Now apply this principle to your business, especially your marketing. Does your marketing show kindness?
In other words, does your brand work at improving the lives of others? Are you a blessing to your community? Do you exist for more than making a quick buck?
It’s easy for a company’s message to be sales… sales… sales. But along the way, you must remember you’re dealing with people, not robots.
Seek to make a difference. It starts with a willingness to donate your time and revenue for an important cause.
Seek to make a difference. It starts with a willingness to donate your time and revenue for an important cause.
Research shows people are more likely to remember and show loyalty to a brand when it's involved with a social cause.
How Can Your Brand Show More Kindness?
Teach a free class that helps people with skills you’ve mastered
Sponsor a youth sports program
Send gifts to current and prospective clients (umbrellas, YETIs, etc…)
Give away your products/services to a family or organization in need
Answer harsh online reviews with gentleness
Launch a new product/service alongside a worthy cause (ex: part of proceeds go toward breast cancer)
Host a holiday event to support a local food bank
Give a portion of every product/service you sell to your favorite non-profit
Extended customer payment plans and defer payments when possible
Rally your customers to give toward relief funds whenever tragedy strikes
And that’s just skimming the surface. Part of the fun is determining the unique way you can help others.
Part of the fun is determining the unique way you can help others.
Sometimes you have to step off the treadmill of marketing analytics, walk out the door, and look for ways to be kind. It’s as simple as going from someone's driveway to their front porch.
As the saying goes, “People remember what you do more than what you say.”
To this day, when I travel back home, I ride the streets of my old paper route. And I always pause in front of one small house… the house where my best customer used to live.
What type of ‘kindness marketing’ is your company doing?
I'd love to read your comments below.
FREE BOOK DOWNLOAD
About Me
Hey, I’m Brian, co-founder of Genie Jar Digital. Born a Tar Heel but now a Virginian, I’m a father of five and the husband of one amazing lady. My family has a thing for Golden Retrievers. Given the right circumstances, I can do a mean moonwalk on a slick kitchen floor.
