I recently had the privilege to take a short trip to Japan in mid-September with my fiancée. While neither of us are Japanese, we loved all the unique things you can only find in Japan.
If you’ve never been to Japan, it is a very different culture than back in North America. Is that a bad thing? Not necessarily. You can definitely apply some aspects of Japanese business culture to your business.
Unprecedented Customer Service
If you’ve been to Japan yourself, you’d have experienced it for yourself. The customer service in Japan completely blew me away. I’m not saying the customer service back home is terrible, but the difference is like night and day.
The kindness and generosity from shopkeepers across the country amazed me. Every employee, whether they worked at 7-11, a high-end clothing store or even a pachinko parlour, jumped at the chance to help. The difference is in the sheer level of enthusiasm employees have to help you.
As a customer, I went out of my way to go back and shop from some of the stores that gave us a hand. With thousands of stores vying for attention, the only ones that I remembered were ones I had a positive experience with.
Every person who walks through your doors or visits your social media is a potential customer. Clearly, expecting your staff to be enthusiastic and energetic all day is unrealistic. However, it’s essential to create a good impression, even if they’re just asking for directions. You never know when someone might return as a customer.
Embrace the Bizarre
On our trip across Japan, we definitely saw some really interesting stores. They ranged from “gimmicky” to “terrifying”, but they definitely got us to stop and take another look.
There were seafood restaurants that forced you to fish up your meal.
Novelty cafés where you’re treated like royalty by Japanese girls dressed up as maids.
How about being thrown into a prison for dinner?
Japan isn’t afraid to move into some truly bizarre territory when it comes to their businesses; places that would be unheard of back here. It might be because we were tourists, but we wanted to visit all these places because they were so bizarre.
I’m not suggesting you change the way your business is run, but sometimes it pays to think outside the box.
Be careful not to go too far. There’s a thin line between being “uniquely fun” and “just inappropriate.” Also, don’t put all your resources into your gimmick. It should attract customers and help build your reputation, but every other aspect of your business must be strong. No one will choose your hotel if the rooms are dirty and overpriced, and no gimmick can fix that.