The Margarita Was Fine. So We Swapped Out the Tequila.
A margarita is pretty hard to screw up. Tequila. Lime. Something sweet. Shake it, pour it, drink it.
Then we tried something different.
Swap the tequila for peach brandy moonshine and suddenly you have a familiar drink that feels completely different. Same basic idea. Different experience.
Sometimes you can create something new without actually creating something new.
Put the Right Things Together
Think about chicken and waffles.
Somewhere along the way, somebody looked at fried chicken and a waffle and decided they belonged on the same plate smothered in maple syrup or hot honey. Individually, both were already pretty good. Together, they became something people specifically seek out.
Businesses do the same thing.
Buy a phone, and you probably need a case, charger, watch, or service plan. Buy software, and you may need implementation, training, or support. A wine shop, florist, and chocolatier can each sell their own products or put them together and create a pretty good Valentine’s Day package.
The trick is finding combinations that make sense for the customer.
A good pairing makes the experience better. It also happens to give the customer a reason to buy more.
Change One Ingredient
Pairing is one option. Substitution is another. That’s where our peach moonshine margarita comes in.
Take something customers already understand and change one element. Hot honey instead of regular honey. A different spirit in a familiar cocktail. A service added to a product that makes the whole thing easier to use.
Rather than starting from scratch, you’re giving people another reason to try something they already understand.
That’s a much easier cocktail to shake.
Give Them Something to Look Forward To
There’s one more piece to this: anticipation.
Think about the way restaurants tease a seasonal menu. Automakers reveal a new model months before you can buy it. Authors talk about books before publication. Podcasts tease the next guest. The waiting becomes part of the experience.
I learned plenty about this while launching Against the Grain. The podcast, blog, videos, advance readers, and behind-the-scenes updates all gave people a chance to come along before publication day.
By launch day, the book already had a story.
Then Do It Again
Pair something customers already like with something that makes it better. Change an ingredient and give them a reason to experience something familiar differently. Give them something worth anticipating.
Then deliver an experience good enough that they come back.
Because selling somebody something once is nice, but having them come back for another round is a whole lot better.
Call to Action
What’s one product or service you could pair, substitute, or tease that would give your customers a reason to come back?
Enjoy business lessons from the history and craft of moonshining? Explore more posts in The Stillhouse Blog, listen to the Against the Grain Podcast, or learn more about my upcoming book, Against the Grain: Business Lessons from the Still.
