Customer Retention: Mimi’s Mouth-Watering muffins (Another Marketing Post)

***This post was originally posted on my work blog. ***

Customer Retention: Mimi’s Mouth-Watering muffins
By Elizabeth Brinton

When it comes to marketing, some companies miss the mark while there are others that “get it” like Mimi’s Café. They operate in 22 states and get it right in so many ways within their restaurants and online… let me share with you my recent experience with Mimi’s…



My husband and I decided to try a new restaurant for breakfast on Saturday so we chose Mimi’s Café. Once seated, our waitress asked if we had ever been there before and we hadn’t. She was slightly surprised because they “don’t advertise much.”

Our first meal there was delightful: the food, the atmosphere, our waitress - all excellent. As we were finishing our meal, the manager came to our table to personally thank us for visiting Mimi’s. She presented us with a box of 4 big, delicious, warm muffins and invited us to come again. They may not have done much to get us in the door; however, they certainly know how to keep us coming back for more.

Mimi’s Café seems to “get it” within their restaurant. They might not do much advertising, but every time I drive by a Mimi’s I notice their parking lot is packed. You see, they don’t need to do a great deal of advertising. They focus on retaining existing customers. Acquiring a new customer can cost up to 5 times more than satisfying and retaining current customers. Instead of advertising, Mimi’s provides an excellent experience to its customers and then their customers spread the word. I’ve told at least 10 people about it and now I’m blogging about it as I’m eating one of those delicious muffins.

Mimi’s also “gets it” online. Like many places, they have an online club. But unlike other places, they send you a coupon for a free breakfast entrée just for signing up! (Completely free, no additional purchase necessary.) This may sound crazy-- giving something for nothing. However, they know that if they can get you in the door you will be a lifelong customer. Additionally, if you sign up online just after your birthday, they will even send you a belated birthday gift. Mimi’s respects you and your email so they don’t flood you with pointless advertisements. Instead, they continue sending you valuable coupons for savings and free food throughout the year.

Mimi’s “gets it”. They understand the importance of building relationships with their existing customers. If you keep them happy and even at times surpass their expectations, they will return again and again inviting others to do the same.

What about your company, do you “get it”? Do you understand how to retain your customers and make the most out of your communication streams? If keeping customers is a problem, give us a call. We can help. 602.692.3818.

Elizabeth Brinton
I.R. Gilyeat & Co.

Another Marketing Post: Customer Service

Here's an excerpt from my latest marketing blog post.

3 Lessons of Great Customer Service – Home Depot
Let me share with you a recent encounter we had with Home Depot:

Background: We’ve lived in our house for 17 years now. It’s been through 5 kids and 4 grandkids and numerous other kids we probably didn’t even know. The poor carpet took the brunt of it all. When we decided to replace all of the carpet with beautiful carpet from Home Depot, we were thrilled! It was a lot of work getting ready for it, seeing as how nearly our entire upstairs is carpeted. It took an entire day but we finally got the carpet replaced. Oh the joy of walking barefooted on beautiful, soft, lush carpet!



The carpet and fumes smelt terrible, but we figured that would just go away right? I mean everything has a funny smell when it’s new, even babies. We opened every window and door in our house to air it out, but it didn’t go away and my entire family started getting sick. Our respiratory systems went haywire we couldn’t breathe properly or sleep and we had constant headaches. This has been going on for 4 weeks now.


We called Home Depot to let them know the problems we were having. We didn’t expect them to do anything actually but if there was a problem with this particular carpet or padding or glue they should be aware of it. However, we were pleasantly surprised at their response. In fact, we’ve been singing the praise of Home Depot’s customer service ever since.

Click here to read the full article

Marketing Post 3

Here's my newest marketing blog post on ExactTarget and Salesforce.com. Not that any of you care, but I enjoy it so here's the link.

Marketing Post 2

I've written another blog post for my marketing company, I.R.Gilyeat & Co. Check it out!
"5 Reasons Why You Need A Marketing Audit"

Client Pitch

Today I made my first ever client pitch. Wow.
Background: my mom is friends with Mary, one of the founders of "My Medical Memory" (M3). When Mary found out I did marketing she asked if I would be willing to meet with her to discuss the possibility of me doing work for M3. After that initial meeting with her, she asked if I would make a pitch to her 2 partners. Eek! A real client pitch!

I put together a presentation of what I could do for M3 and delivered it today. I was so nervous!! But I don't think it didn't hinder my presenting abilities because from what they told me afterwards, it was a dang good presentation :)

Anyways, they got back to me within a couple hours and drum roll please! .........................................................................................................................................................
I got the client! Woohoo!! Oh yeah, happy dance! work it, uh huh. Yay!! Ha ha. I officially have my first client of my very own. It is exciting and slightly, ok really, nerve-wrecking at the same time.

I really appreciate what a friend told me this week. Essentially he said, "Don't worry. You'll do great. You'll rise to the occasion--You always do". I love friends like that! Thanks for the vote of confidence. I'm sure there will be updates as to how it is going later on.

WooHOOOO!!! (sorry, I couldn't resist one more. I'm just a little excited)

Marketing Post

For work, I've done a lot of blog marketing, which increases traffic to the company website by commenting on others marketing blogs. Well I've finally written my own marketing blog post! I feel so "official" ;)
Here's the link if you want to read it