Earlier this month, I was browsing through furniture websites, thinking about decorating and sprucing up ‘the room with no name’ in our house. (This is a room with no clearly defined purpose, but it’s where the piano is, and it’s the route to the kitchen. We also keep our keys there … more on this later). I had my eye on some beautiful small sofas which would just slot in nicely to the space.
One particular website offered a free sample service – I just filled in a few boxes to get some free fabric swatches through the post.
A few days later, a gorgeous little package arrived through my letterbox – a simple, square, turquoise box, addressed to me with just the logo on. When I opened it, I found some beautifully wrapped fabric samples, together with a stylish pamphlet and a sachet of hot chocolate. The whole combination conjured up a cosy evening curled up by the fire on my new sofa. Genius!
I now think this company is definitely the one I want to get my new sofa from because they seem warm, friendly and personal.
They are imagining their customers in the environment where they are using their new sofa. Even though their products are probably (logically) made in a factory, that’s not the impression you get from their materials.
They are not bulk-selling a mass-market commodity (unlike some of TV the adverts that are on a loop at the moment).
The lessons learned?
- Make your customers feel that they matter to you
- Think about what they are buying, and why
- Make your communication personal and relevant
The room with no name
Is it wrong to have a room with no name? It is when it comes time to sell your house and you’re trying to make it appeal to somebody else. It became particularly apparent when we had an estate agent round and I listened in horror as my husband says ‘this is … erm, well this room has no real purpose’
As any estate agent, or Phil & Kirsty will tell you, it’s important to ‘set the scene’ so that people can imagine themselves in your property. There is a desk, a piano and some drawers full of craft materials in there so I would have called it ‘the study’ or ‘where the children do their homework and music practice’. All of a sudden, it takes on a new importance, rather than just being a thoroughfare to the kitchen.
