The very best little bit of the steak wasn’t the steak.
Don’t get me flawed, Flat Iron serves up a imply piece of meat. However what actually caught in my thoughts from a latest go to with my spouse wasn’t what was on the plate. It was what got here after the invoice.
Two silver tokens, positioned on the desk with somewhat flourish. “These are without cost ice lotions,” the server stated. “You need to use them everytime you like.”
Reader, we didn’t wait. We virtually sprinted. Regardless of the very fact it was freezing. Regardless of the very fact it was raining. Regardless of the very fact we have been stuffed with steak. We stood exterior within the drizzle, grinning like idiots, consuming ice cream. After which, inevitably: we shared it on social media. We instructed mates. We remembered it.
And that’s the magic of moments like this: small, sudden gestures that create delight, inform a narrative, and make folks need to speak about your small business.
This wasn’t a couple of low cost or a loyalty card or an enormous daring supply. This was a couple of second. A reminiscence. A totally pointless act of generosity that earned our loyalty and our storytelling without cost.
They usually’re not alone.
Capital One as soon as had a buyer casually point out, throughout a routine name, that she was mid-way by means of a horrendous kitchen renovation. Plaster mud in all places. Nowhere to place her espresso. Only a throwaway remark. However two weeks later, a parcel arrived at her door: a reminiscence foam kitchen mat, and a handwritten notice from the rep she’d spoken to. It had no bearing on her credit score restrict, her APR, or her buyer standing. However it had the whole lot to do with belief. A pure, sudden deposit into what Stephen Covey would name her “Emotional Financial institution Account.”
It’s an idea value borrowing. Covey says each relationship is like an emotional checking account. Every optimistic interplay makes a deposit. Every detrimental one is a withdrawal. The upper the steadiness, the upper the belief. Easy—and highly effective.
Let’s deposit one other story.
Omnisend—a B2B electronic mail advertising and marketing platform of all issues—who’ve in some way mastered the artwork of being brilliantly, cheekily human. Model Supervisor Pija Ona Indriūnaitė began sending T-shirts to prospects that didn’t reply to account managers. However not simply any T-shirts. One learn: “I ghosted Omnisend, in order that they despatched me this superior T-shirt.” One other: “One other assembly that would have been an electronic mail.” It’s humorous. It’s daring. It’s memorable.
After which there’s Chewy, the web pet retailer. When prospects notify them {that a} beloved pet has handed away, Chewy usually sends flowers, a pet portrait and a condolence card. No automated emails. No sneaky gross sales pitch for a brand new pet mattress. Only a human response to a different human being. In a world of “click on to cancel,” it stands out like a heartbeat within the silence. And crucially, it doesn’t really feel like a advertising and marketing ploy. It seems like somebody, someplace, gave a rattling.
Octopus Power do too. After a easy name to replace account particulars, a buyer casually talked about they have been recovering from surgical procedure. The rep may have stated “Hope you’re feeling higher quickly” and carried on. As an alternative, a couple of days later, a bouquet of flowers arrived on the buyer’s dwelling. No fanfare. Simply kindness. A deposit made.
So what can property brokers be taught from this?
Our trade is constructed on relationships. However too usually, we cease nurturing them the second the keys change palms.
The very best businesses I do know go additional. Location Location in Stoke Newington put an enormous ribbon on the entrance door on transferring day. It’s easy, it’s joyful—and it’s been shared hundreds of occasions.
However you don’t need to cease there.
What if, as a substitute of the usual dwelling transfer field full of moist wipes and oatcakes, you used AI to create a Pixar-style picture of their new dwelling being lifted into the sky by helium balloons within the type of Up, and framed it as a present?
What should you logged a throwaway remark the shopper made about their son’s commencement date in your CRM and despatched a handwritten congratulations card months after the transfer?
What should you stopped anticipating to be provided tea and low upon arrival on the market appraisal, and referred to as forward to supply one from the native espresso store?
What should you regarded for tiny methods to say: “We care.”
As a result of while you do this, you’re not simply closing offers—you’re making deposits. You’re creating moments value speaking about.
And in a enterprise that thrives on referrals, repute, and retention—that’s the form of advertising and marketing cash can’t purchase.
Toby Martin is an skilled property agent marketing consultant specialising in residential lettings, advertising and marketing, and coaching
