The Chupa Chups Strategy

Many years ago as I was shopping on Oxford Street in Sydney, I noticed a young man holding onto a big fish bowl filled with Chupa Chups giving them to passersby. Instinct drew me near to the guy and as my hand was reaching into the bowl of free lollies, the man casually invited me to enter the shop for a visit. Slightly obliged, I entered a very crowded store full of people with Chupa Chups in their mouths.
Years later when I opened my first shoe shop, the Chupa Chup Strategy resurfaced in my mind. I had a hard time trying to convince my partner to give away 40 cents for every customer coming into the store. Nevertheless, I persevered and bought a huge can of Chupa Chups with 1000 lollies. The Chupa Chups gave me an access to customers I could never have imagined. It became an instant ice-breaker with customers and turned numerous customers into friends.

Eventually, we had kids begging their mum to come into our store, giving us the most innocent clues that they wanted our lollies. Along the way, we got to introduce to the mum and dad our latest arrivals. One day when I was on leave, I received a phone call from my partner who was in a panic because we ran out of Chupa Chups. I knew deep inside then that the strategy had worked, when the person who had opposed the ideaturned around to endorse it. As my business model changes, so does my Chupa Chup strategy. My Chupa Chup strategy now includes going around giving free speeches, sharing my experience on Customer Service. Incidentally, this free ebook too, is part of my Chupa Chup Strategy.

By giving away all I know about customer service for free, our company will achieve two things:

1. Make the community a better place by giving them the tool of customer service.
2. Achieve word of mouth recommendation from my audiences, so that they will engage my services when needs arise.

These principles are in line with our vision to Spark the Economy by empowering business best practices!

What is your company’s Chupa Chup Strategy?