The highlight of every weekend I spend in Melbourne is a trip to the magic shop in Southbank. Yes, I’ll happily confess I’m crazy for magic. I’ve always loved it. But I don’t go into this shop just to buy magic tricks.
Every time I go into this shop it’s an experience. The staff are all dressed in bow ties and when asked, or even sometimes when you don’t ask, they’ll start demonstrating their wares by performing fantastic magic tricks. I adore watching their demonstrations (they’re flawless and funny) and it’s great for business. I want to do EVERY trick they show me and I tell all my friends (and now you guys!) that they have to go into the shop.
Cost to the shop? Nothing. When the staff are busy serving, they don’t do tricks. The benefit to the shop? Immeasurable, I’m sure.
Now, while a magic shop can literally create magic in their shopping experience, I don’t think it’s a feat beyond any business.
The restaurant Bubba Gump (based on the character from Forest Gump) in the United States did it for me by having a sign on each table that could be flipped to say either “run Forest, run” or “stop Forest, stop” depending on whether you wanted service from your waiter. I loved it so much I thought about getting my own portable version to take to every restaurant (it’s so frustrating to wait and wait for service).
How will you create magic in your business today?
Kirsty Dunphey is the youngest ever Australian Telstra Young Business Woman of the Year, author of two books (her latest release is ‘Retired at 27, If I Can do it Anyone Can’) and a passionate entrepreneur who started at age 15 and opened her own real estate agency at 21. Currently Kirsty heads up www.reallysold.com the premium online copywriting site for real estate agents and is a co-director of Elephant Propertywww.elephantproperty.com.au Launceston, Tasmania’s only boutique real estate agency purely for investment property owners. Kirsty’s other ventures are outlined at her website www.kirstydunphey.com where you can also sign up for her newsletter.
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James was the editor and publisher of SmartCompany and LeadingCompany for five years. He is now the Australian Financial Review‘s companies & markets editor, and a former BRW editor.
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