If driving a race car is not enough, they gave you several race cars to try. This alone made me really detached for a few days. Unreal. I have always wanted to drive a race car, and become a professional racing driver since my primary years. As I grow older (especially after I got meself trapped in a rat race), I just kinda let that thought seep away, thinking it is not possible anymore.
And then comes Michelin.
Yes, getting to drive a race car is a guaranteed must-try-to-believe experience, but the service Michelin had provided us prior to the main event is just a little bit too much. In a good way.
Put it like this;few days before the main event, a Michelin personnel calls me and asked me how am I doing. I was very surprised! It has been many moons since I heard "Jeff, how are you?"
The world gets colder and colder by the day (where my social anxiety disorder just make it worse), and to have a complete stranger calls you and asked you how are you is like receiving a cookie and a kiss from spongebob's grandma. It is just so warm.
We chat a bit, and the topic is basically just a mini interview, "what are you going to do", "calm down and enjoy the coming weekend".... that kind of stuff. Hung up and I spent my remainder working days like a cheeky child who got the toy he wanted for christmas.
And to add another cherry on the icing, Michelin booked us an expensive room for the stay. This is the most expensive room I have ever stayed in my entire life so far.
This room is very erotic in nature. You can perform naughty stuff inside the bathroom for your special one to see.
Now I won't describe what we did the entire next day, as I have a video to do the explaining.
What amazes me most is their hospitality, and it really shows as they are known for their Michelin Guide, where the top hotels and restaurants are dying to be featured in their annual guide books. You can read it more here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michelin_Guide
For the entire day you are treated like a spoilt princess. This is what they actually did to us:
1. They will put on your racing equipments for you (except the suit, because it is too awkward to strip infront of them.)
2. They will wipe your sweat off your face. You just have to stand still and close your eyes. Lols.
3. They fan you when they is no fan around the area.
4. They constantly asks you if you are comfortable.
5. They hired five star restaurant just to cook a lunch for you. Needless to say, the food was awesome! (where will you get a 4-inch tall burger that looks exactly the same as most commercial burgers that is advertised on the media).
6. They will shade you with an umbrella if they caught you wondering around under the sun.
7. The professional race car drivers were very down to earth, and willing to share and guide you. (Most race car drivers I have met have this "Don't touch me, I am a race car driver" aura around them. Interestingly, only Malaysian race car drivers. Not the foreign ones.)
8. You will get lots of photographers following you around. ( a nice way to psych you up, thinking you are famous or something)
9. Everyone is extremely friendly, as if they are your best friends from childhood.
10. And the souveniers they gave you is not those typical here-you-go types of souveniers. Check these out:
The scale model they gave is not a joke. It is very detailed, right down to the tiny words on the brake calipers. And they should cost a bomb too as this is a custom made model for Michelin, where a normal Renault model is already RM250+-!! Check it out here!: Renault Clio R.S Cup 2011 - SparkModels
10. To sum it all, they are dying to serve you, and give you the best experience you ever had for your entire life.
And they have succeeded. Even as of yesterday, my mum still said that she had the best time in her entire life during that day. Hearing this from a 54 year old is not a joke. Not even her wedding ceremony, or the birth of me can even top this. I am even thinking of selling my newly bought Bridgestones for a new set of Michelins.
This is how bloody good Michelin had did their job.
My point of all this is that if you could treat your customers as another fellow human being and not just a customer, you will have more success in business. Sell your experience and solutions to your customers, not your product!
A Million thanks to the very good people in Michelin!
