Is Your Chocolate Too Sweet?
June 4, 2009
Is it possible for chocolate to be too sweet? Absolutely. But that’s not necessarily a bad thing, unless trying to resolve the problem leaves you disappointed.
I surprised my wife with a getaway trip to celebrate our 25th wedding anniversary. We left early and drove the 4-1/2 hours to Charleston, South Carolina. We had gone there about 15 years ago; had a great time; and though I’d been there on business several times since then, it was Lorie’s first trip back.
We booked a really nice Bed & Breakfast (more on that in an upcoming Inner Circle issue), had some great meals, and saw some wonderful architecture. We also did the mandatory walk through the booths on Market Street, and stopped into Market Street Sweets, largely because they were shouting “Free Samples!” from within the store.
I had been in their sister store, River Street Sweets, in Savannah, Georgia, and brought back some treats for my family that they really enjoyed. Especially Lorie who is a big fan of dark chocolate.
Once I made the connection between the two stores, I suggested that we pick up some chocolate to have later that evening on the piazza outside our room. Dark chocolate and good red wine go really well together, so we were looking forward to a nice after-dinner treat.
That is, of course, until we actually tasted the chocolate. Dark chocolate is supposed to be more subdued, and certainly not as sweet at the mass-produced milk chocolate we’re accustomed to here. (For really good chocolate, by the way, try Matthew’s Chocolates in Hillsborough, North Carolina!)
This batch, for some reason, was sweet. And not just a little sweet, but really sweet – more sweet than a Hershey bar. And on top of that, it had a really nasty aftertaste – not at all what we had in mind to end the evening.
So the next day, I called the 800 number on the nice full-color brochure we had picked up when we were in the store and called to offer our feedback. To their credit, someone called us back almost immediately.
She asked some questions about when we were in and what we bought. I explained the whole romantic anniversary wine and chocolate thing, and how disappointed we were in the quality of the product. She said, “Well, if you have your receipt, you can bring it back and get a refund or exchange it for something else.
That was it. Well, the chocolate only cost about $5.00, and it wasn’t going to be worth the time and effort to take it back. As for exchanging it, I was at a loss as to why I’d want to exchange bad chocolate for other bad chocolate, so I thanked her for the call and let it go.
On the one hand, it wasn’t really a big deal – just $5.00 in chocolate. On the other hand, that chocolate was part of a nice evening we had planned for a special occasion. So two important concepts to consider this week:
1. Features vs. Benefits – Features are what you offer, in this case the chocolate. Benefits are what the customer gets, in this case, a romantic evening on the piazza of a bed and breakfast. Make sure you always understand how people are using your products and services, and let this drive both your marketing and your customer service.
2. Service Recovery – When a problem does arise, your ability to resolve the issue quickly and definitively can make the difference between a satisfied customer and dissatisfied customer. In this case, something like a $20 gift certificate would have gone a long way…and led to a completely different story.
Make sure whatever you do helps you build an army of raving fans, instead of creating a situation that leaves a bad taste in the mouth.
Comments
2 Responses to “Is Your Chocolate Too Sweet?”
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Ron,
I have to disagree with your chocolate story. Yes they could have sent you a $20 gift certificate but you only spent $5.00. Beside they offer free samples of everything they sell (been there) so you could have asked to sample the chocolate before purchasing some? Also the name “Market Sweet Sweets” sort of implies to me that what they sell is sweet. My wife (the true chocolate lover) doesn’t like their chocolates because they are all too sweet. Beside that even a $50 gift certificate couldn’t fix a romantic evening gone bad.
I enjoyed the lesson of the story. In my highly subjective business, in the decorative & fine arts world, clients emotional responses to my ‘creations’ are key to the ’success’ or precieved lack there of. When I’m creating a mural or a creative finish for a clients walls, they are trusting me with a very personal and intimate part of their life. They are thinking of the great times they will have with there family and friends and how these creatives will enhance their experiences. And if they’ve trusted me with a comissioned protrait of them, their child or loved one, wow!
I’ve always observed this however, I hadn’t really thought of the real depth of this until reading the concepts in this article. I’m going to keep pondering this … I’ve got some changes to make.
Thank you Ron!
Reading Warrens comments above does raise some ‘food for thought’ on the actual recovery side, which actually gave me additional ideas as I run into these situations in my business too.
Even if your business name implys what you producde and samples are made available, it doesn’t always mean that the experience the client is expecting will pan out the way they had invisioned. And it’s our job to think more about how are ‘products & services’ are used by our clients and try to make sure what we provide is geared toward those visions and less about how wonderful we think our products and services are. Which is what I think this article was really trying to get across.
Regarding Warrens comments on this, I’d have to agree to an extent the even a $50 gift certifacate to the chocolate store would not have been of much help.
However … if it was even a refund plus $5 or $10 gift certificate toward a great local resturant or a some other place that could possibly asisst in creating another fun or ‘romantic experience’ then your thinking in the mind of your customers/clients.
You could partner up with other businesses (even ‘competitors’) and create ‘recovery packs.’ Certificates packets for situations just like this, that help your customers feel better, assist your local economy and improve your business … Now my gears are really turning!
Thanks again Ron! And thank you too Warren
All the best!
Stephen