It’s true. My shoes came with a crown.

You’re thinking, ‘What the heck?” Right? Well one of my favorite brands is a shoe company called TIEKS. Have you heard of them? Tieks makes these lovely little ballet flats in a flurry of colors and finishes. They create special edition colors that they launch with such gusto and feminine splendor, it’s hard not to love them. It’s all in the presentation!!! I’m a huge fan of presentation :)

Each pair of Tieks comes in a teal blue box wrapped with an elastic band that’s crowned with a bejeweled flower. It’s adorable. So already, I’m blown away by the loveliness of what has arrived on my doorstep and I haven’t even seen the shoes yet. When I open the box, I see my marvelous shoes, folded neatly inside, a little black pouch (that fit my folded Tieks perfectly) and a mini teal tote (that’s where you put your heels you’ve replaced with your ballet flats :). AND…I’m not done yet!! Each pair of Tieks comes with a hand written thank you note. Like totally Hand Written. Not one of those printed to look handwritten. Ball point pen hand written.

This is what presentation is all about!!! It’s one thing to get a great pair of shoes in a beautiful color that you love, it’s quite another to receive them as if they are a very special gift to a very special person where every care was taken to ensure you are awed and inspired.

Ok, now about that crown. My latest pair are Tyrian Tieks in magenta crushed velvet. Gorgeous, of course. But instead of the usual bejeweled flower on top, my box was topped with a crown. A gold crown with magenta pearls that is perfectly sized for, not me, but my cocker spaniel :) If that wasn’t enough, they included a Tieks Teal Face Mask as a bonus gift. I mean, WOW!

Tieks continues to up the anti with lovely extras that make you smile like a little girl on Christmas morning. Knowing how popular they are now, (Oprah loves them) they could easily skip all the fancy and just send you the shoes in a plain teal box, but they haven’t. They continue to impress with all those amazing little touches that make us run back for more. Why? Because the are the little touches that most companies skip these days.

So the point of my story? As an artist and seller, I love all the extras this brand showers you with, including that handwritten note. Everything they do is on brand and revolves around customer satisfaction to the next level. I’m not just satisfied when I open up my box of shoes, I’m happy, inspired, awed, and continually wondering what I should do with all the pretty box toppers :).

As small business owners, these are the cues we want to apply in our own businesses. How can we create a recognizable brand while making our customers happy, inspired, and awed when they open up our package? How do we create a brand image that shows the world who we really are and what we’re all about? It’s starts with creating a brand suite and a few little extras that scream YOU.

I’m going to be sharing all about this in a new course I’ve created… and we’ll do it together…