While waiting for your plane to take off from the LAX airport, you can stop by one of the many Starbucks in the terminal and pick up a java for your journey, as long as you're willing to stand in line for thirty minutes. I did, even though the Burger King next door had no line and also served coffee. About ten minutes into my investment, I began to feel like an idiot so I asked the woman behind me why she didn't just go to Burger King. She shrugged and said, "I always get my coffee from Starbucks." I realized that my reasoning was similar. Like so many others, I had walked by the other coffee shops in the terminal (where the lines were shorter) and the Burger King (where there was no line at all) until I saw the familiar green logo and took my place in the queue.
It would have made more sense if I had wanted a blended specialty drink (I didn't). I can't tell you that Starbucks' beans are better (I've never tried Burger King's) or cheaper (they're both the same price at LAX —I checked), but I can tell you that as a longtime customer of Starbucks, their coffee is more familiar. Apparently that's enough to justify a half-hour wait from all us loyalists.
The experience reminds me of the commitment/consistency principle from Robert Cialdini's book, Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion. He points out that once a customer makes a commitment, they are likely to repeat that behavior over and over again. The business development lesson here is twofold:
- Once we get a small commitment from our prospective clients, it is more likely that they will come back to us for a more substantial issue later. So kick off the new year by offering complimentary courses and consultations that get them comfortable with your advice.
- Our former clients are more likely to come back to us for repeat business than try someone brand new. So call them to wish them a happy New Year. You may learn that they have new circumstances that warrant re-engagement in 2013.
I hope you will consider at least one of these suggestions. I'd like to think that something productive came from the half hour I spent waiting for coffee.
