My grandmother owned a wool shop for nearly 30 years. Needless to say I grew up crafting – all things knitting, sewing, crocheting, dressmaking. It’s in my blood.
For a while, at university, I turned my crafting into furniture and product making, but I’ve since returned to these softer crafts (apart from the odd splurgh into DIY). The pandemic saw a a huge increase in crafts: #covidcrafts trended; Hobbycraft saw 200% boom in sales in 2020; the World Economic Forum even wrote about ‘How the creative manufacturing and handmade sector can craft a post-COVID-19 future”.
So, it’s / I’m cool, right?!
My latest project called for some chunky wool, and I didn’t want to get any old wool – I wanted British-made, pure wool to make something to last a lifetime (a legacy, if you were, to my knitting career). I came across a website and made my purchase, described as:
“…proudly bears the new British Wool logo, a guarantee that it is British to the core from sheep to showroom. The wool selected to make [wool brand] comes from an exciting cross breed of Bluefaced Leicester – famous in British hand knitting for its soft handle – and Kerry Hill renown for its distinctive markings and clean white fleece.”
Wonderful. And delightfully written. I now know about the sheep it’s come from, have a quality assurance and how they feel about it (excited).
What came next was quite unexpected and so lovely, I had to share it.
My confirmation email:
I read this with such a smile on my face.
Why is it so wonderful:
- It humanises the whole team, tells me about them and what they do. It’s inclusive and I am left feeling everyone on that team is seen and heard, valued and part of the business.
- It’s communicates to me what to expect – what’s happening with my order, how it’s being managed and how to reach out with any queries.
- It brings me into the story, as the customer, ‘Customer of the Year’ in fact! So now I’m imagining a wall filled with happy customers, a community.
- It tells me what it means for them, as a small, family-run business, that my business supports these individuals and family.
- It’s got bags of personality – from the descriptions of the wool being gently taken from the shelves, to juggling Grant, to having a brew, to using the word ‘love’. It gives me a real insight into their culture and what makes them special – what’s underpinning their values.
- This was completely unnecessary – where a standard confirmation would do the job, this goes above any beyond to add an element of joy, reinforcing what this brand is about and a great brand touchpoint for their customers. It’s a simple, FREE, thing to create and they haven’t wasted the opportunity and really thought about it. Yes, I know this is an automated response but I FEEL like it’s deeply personal.
- I will 100% be returning and telling all the cool kids that knit and crochet about them. I’m now a raving fan and advocate and marketing machine for them.
‘Details aren’t details – they make a product’ are wise words spoken by furniture masters Charles and Ray Eames. And the same can apply to our business.
Look at every touchpoint and interaction with your clients, how can you intentionally design them and add more of your brand voice, values, personality and delight into each one? Think of even the ‘boring’ ones – auto responses, thank you notes from form submissions, 404 redirect page on your website…
It will be the gift that keeps giving. I’m not spinning a yarn.