Today on a whim, I took my daughter on a tour of a local candy factory. We were in the area and thought it would be fun. Â After paying a couple dollars for the tour, a nice motherly woman stood in front of us with a tray of chocolates to give us as samples while she explained there were no pictures to be taken on the tour and by the way, you need to give your cameras and cell phones to the front desk person. We then toured the plant. Â The R&D room, the carmel-making facility and the finishing was all enclosed and we couldn’t see it. What we did see were workers putting molds into the machine and at the other end taking them out, packaging them and shrink wrapping. Â No big secrets, nothing you couldn’t do at home. Â We did see the big tanks of chocolate and made all the right jokes about going swimming, etc. and she showed us the magnetic molds which I didn’t know were magnetic so that was cool. But I digress.
The point is, here’s a company that is putting together a tour to help us feel connected to their products. There are several mentions of product being available in the gift shop and everyone knew perfectly well we would be ending the tour in the gift shop and buying some chocolate. So if ever there was a person who showed they cared about a product, wasn’t it us? Â And yet one of the first things said, before we can even taste the chocolate, is “we don’t trust you”. We like you, we want your money, but we don’t respect you and we don’t trust you. Needless to say I did not give up my cell phone as it is too important to lose, and I was sorry to see this happen.
So I ask you – do you in any way hold chocolates in your hands while telling your customers you don’t trust them?
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