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Newsletter #808: The “Be Convenient” Issue

Welcome back to the Damn, I Wish I Thought of That! newsletter. This is text of the great issue all of our email subscribers just received. Sign yourself up using the handy form on the right.]

If you can save the world time and prevent headaches, you’ll be thanked with love and loyalty. A peek at how several brands are doing it:

1> For car repairs
2> For budgets
3> For low batteries
4> Check it out: Unsuck your business jargon

1> For car repairs

There’s a reason people put off minor car repairs and maintenance: It’s often a pain in coordination and lost time. But it doesn’t have to be that way. The UK’s Autofarm, an independent Porsche dealership, offers complimentary travel service to and from a nearby luxury outlet mall for customers who are having their cars worked on. Now, instead of a time-consuming trip to the mechanic, customers get an afternoon of shopping.

The lesson: If you offer a service that requires a time commitment from your customers, you’ve got to find a way to avoid making it a hassle.

Learn more: Springwise

2> For budgets

Make it easy for customers on a budget to know exactly what they can afford. A great example is Kayak’s “Where can I fly for how much?” feature. Just put in your departing airport and your budget and they instantly show you all the places you can afford to fly to. Instead of sifting through thousands of flights and options, you can see exactly what you can afford in just a few seconds.

The lesson: Don’t make it complicated for customers to figure out how much of your stuff they can buy.

Learn more: Kayak

3> For low batteries

If you can save someone the headache of a dead cell phone battery, you can be a hero. At the Minnesota Twins’ Target Field in Minneapolis, Best Buy has a row of charging stations with a bunch of different types of jacks. It’s painless for Best Buy to run and it gives them the chance to save the day for a fan with a low battery warning.

The lesson: Being convenient and saving the day is something you can do anywhere, not just when the customer comes to your business or website.

4> Unsuck your business jargon

Finding your day-to-day language bogged down in phrases like “Action Item,” “Best of Breed” or “Bucketize”? If so, Unsuck It can help you get past all that nonsense.

Check it out: Unsuck-it.com

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