Faithful FOPs know by now that I recently spent a weekend in Boston, and judging by the amount of Pow! I stumbled upon, this city should replace the rather unresponsive Surprise, Arizona as the spiritual home of this blog (now if we could only do something about those hated Bruins...).
That said, all this week we'll be featuring Boston's discoveries here at Surprise Central, continuing with the sign at right, from a men's salon called Barbershop Lounge.
This is the type of biz that has been the same for years; while hairstyles and services have changed, there's only so much a men's salon can do for its customers without breaking the boundaries of decency...or the law itself.
That's why I love what these people did. Following two of the nine major Surprise-generating tactics in one fell swoop ("Wear Virgin Contact Lenses," which urges one to see things as if it were their first time and "A Piece of the Puzzle," which suggests breaking down a problem into pieces and focusing on the shiniest one), Barbershop Lounge decided not to focus on what they were offering, but on how they were charging for it instead...hence the sign and its subscription.
We all know that gyms charge annual memberships, but hairstylists? Actually, the Lounge has multiple memberships, ranging from the one you see here to the Platinum, which includes massages, shoe shines, shaves, hand and foot treatments and even valet parking for a hair-raising $2275 per year.
Think of your biz. Can you get your customers to commit to a year's worth of your products or services? This is when it becomes less about money and more about a relationship. Are YOU worth the vow?