Thanks Lululemon - Free Endorphins Class! September 8, 2008
If you live in Vancouver, Lululemon is practically synonymous with the city. You don’t have to go more than a block in pretty much any neighbourhood to find someone decked out in head to toe in Lululemon. It’s part of the active lifestyle that is pervasive in Vancouver. The clothes are incredibly comfortable and the yoga pant are very flattering.
I was in the Lululemon on Robson street the other week buying a rain jacket for running when the girl helping me in the change room recognized me from a previous visit. She asked me if I was interested in joining a clinic that they were hosting. What they did, was ask 20 people who came in to the store if they wanted to take part in a four week - 8 sessions in total - bootcamp style class called Endorphins, that is taught by the owners own personal trainer. The best part about it, is that it’s free.
I was quite surprised that they were offering this for free and jumped at the opportunity to participate in the class. To sign up for a 4 week bootcamp class, the cost is between $200 and $300. Anyway that you look at it, it’s a great deal for me. I’m not sure exactly what is involved in an Endorphins class, but I’m definitely looking forward to going to my first one tomorrow.
It got me to thinking about why they were doing this. They didn’t know anything about who I was, other than they recognized me from a previous visit and I was offered this before I’d purchased anything - and they didn’t have a purchase requirement in order to participate.
All to often these days, companies want you to jump through hoops in order to partake in a promotion that they are offering with all sorts of small print in there to catch you on the back end. Think about all of those “free” digital camera’s that the telecom’s give you to sign up to their internet or phone services. They are never free and you’re better off just buying one yourself.
There isn’t anything involved with this offer that Lululemon gave me. What they have created is a loyal customer who is more than willing to tell all of my friends - and in my case readers - about this. The next time I need to buy athletic gear, you can be assured that I won’t be hitting the Puma store on Granville or the closest big box sports store, I’ll be heading down to my local Lululemon. If I wasn’t a loyal consumer before, you can be sure that I am now.
So other companies out there, you can take a cue from this. Don’t make your customers jump through hoops to participate in your promotions. You’re far more apt to create a loyal customer by treating them well than by trying to trick them with your “free” promotions. I know that I loyally avoid several companies now due to their ‘free’ promotion giveaway’s.
Thanks Lululemon!
