I received another L.L. Bean catalog this past week like millions of others. This multi-million dollar company reaches out across our land from the corner of Maine. A far cry from its humble beginnings.
L.L. Bean was founded in 1912 by avid hunter and fisherman Leon Leonwood Bean. He had developed a waterproof boot by combining a rubber bottom and leather upper and sold it to hunters. He obtained a list of nonresident Maine hunting license holders, prepared a descriptive mail order piece, set up shop in his brother's basement in Freeport, Maine, and started his nationwide mail order business. He began selling the "Bean Boot" or "Maine Hunting Shoe" through this four-page mail order catalog.
Defects in the initial design led to over 90% of the original production being returned. L.L. Bean made good on his now famous lifetime, money-back guarantee, corrected the design, and continued selling them. This same boot is now as much a L.L. Bean logo as it is a staple of the company's outdoor image.
While you may not have world famous boots like L.L. Bean, there are some things you can do like L.L. Bean.
FREE SHIPPING
On the cover of the latest catalog, was FREE SHIPPING with no minimum purchase required. L.L. Bean offer free shipping all year long, but they require a minimum purchase. Free shipping with no minimum is special. Imagine how much you could "lose" if customers across the U.S. bought only $5.00 products and you promised to ship for free. It would be a disaster. But it's not.
FREE GIFT CARD
How about a FREE $10 GIFT CARD with only a purchase of $25 or more. Amazing! What would stop people from buying only $25 at a time and loading up on the $10 cards? L.L. Bean would be sending out $25 dollars of product and netting only $15. It would be a disaster. But it's not.
GUARANTEE
And then there's the Guarantee. The "No questions asked" "No receipt required" "Lifetime" "Money-back" GUARANTEE. I've known people who have gained 20 pounds and returned L.L. Bean chinos (32" waist exchanged for 36") because they didn't fit anymore. Actually I've only known one person that had the gall to do this. But this same guy would return socks and boxers too. The amazing thing is… L.L. Bean honored their GUARANTEE, no questions asked.
So that's L.L. Bean. But what about you and me? What can we learn and apply to make our businesses better or get better response in our marketing campaigns?
I guess we could copy them, right? But that's kind of like someone giving you a fish instead of you learning how to fish. What can we learn? Michael Gerber, author of E-Myth, says its simple, "Make a promise they can't refuse, and then keep it." Marketer extraordinaire, Seth Godin calls it being "REMARKABLE."
So while there is no easy answer. It's something we must figure out to make it to the next level. L.L. Bean makes purchasing from them easy with offers that we can't refuse. And we risk nothing. If we don't like it, just return it…for life! That's REMARKABLE!
What makes your business REMARKABLE?
Advantage Printing is a commercial print and marketing service provider serving small to mid-sized businesses, nonprofits and churches.
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