As regular readers of this blog and our Dynamic Experiences Group newsletters know, Doug and I are advocates of thank-you cards to help remind customers of their experience and invite them back. For the past few years, my home state of Maine has taken this approach with the customers of its biggest industry: tourists. With its reputation as Vacationland, a plethora of shimmering lakes, miles of white, sandy beaches, and more natural wonders than you can shake a pine stick at, Maine sees its population nearly double in the summer months as visitors from all over the world infiltrate the state to eat lobster and make fun of the way natives (supposedly) speak.
Most of these tourists arrive via automobile along Interstate 95, stopping to pay a highway toll at the plaza in the once-sleepy town of York. Since visitors pay this toll when they enter and exit the state, traffic tends to back up for miles northbound on Memorial Day (the start of the summer tourist season), and southbound on
Labor Day (the end of the season). A few years ago, the state government and Board of Tourism thought it would be a good idea to thank the thousands of visitors exiting the state on Labor Day, and thereby extend the customer experience. But how? Hang a banner? Not personal enough. Have the Governor personally thank the occupants of each car as it paid its toll? Maybe too personal. The final idea was to have state mascots stand in front of the toll booths and wave good-bye to the departing tourists. And so, for the past four years, Miles the Moose (pictured), LL Lobster, and Baxter the Maine Black Bear have stood and bid farewell to thousands of customers as they leave the store... er, state.
This year, as in years past, travelers will also receive a thank-you gift more tangible than a mere wave from a Highway Department employee in a plush costume. This year it's a moose-shaped cookie cutter, complete with a printed recipe for shortbread cookies with Maine maple syrup glaze, a personal favorite of Governor John Baldacci and his family. Vacating vacationers will also get a thank-you card from the governor and his family, inviting visitors to return in the fall to attend any of the autumn fairs and other events listed on the card, a simple reminder that the state is open for business all year round.
If an entire state can thank nearly every customer as it leaves, and invite them back, you'd think more retailers could. Now, if the Board of Tourism could just get all of the toll-takers on the northbound side to give arriving visitors a warm and friendly welcome, that would really be something.
