There wasn’t much selling to me about Vietnam the third time. I was sold the first time on the first trip. My first experience with Vietnam was in HCM in 2009, the second was family trip in Hoi An 2010, and I knew we would be back, and here we are again for the third time in Vietnam for our Dec 2012 holiday trip.

I saw value added from Vietnam’s tour. It has a lot to offer to a family. There are many interesting places to see, fun street scenes, great food, and a lot of activities to do.  The highlights of our trips were Hanoi, Halong Bay, Hoi An, and Danang Beach Resort for relaxation.

Old Quarter at Hanoi Street

Hanoi is a lively Old Quarter, the capital of Vietnam. It has 40 streets packed with shops selling all kinds of goods. Each of the streets has its own unique products to sell.  You can make your choice to go for a street that sells mostly jewellery or fashion, or arts or etc. We stayed at Golden Silk Boutique hotel that provides us with easy access to the street scenes, and to travel spots like Ha Long Bay.  At Hanoi, walking by foot was the best way to see the town at our own time and pace. There is much to appreciate and see for the whole family – the monuments, colonial French inspired architecture, temples, lakes and the modern developments. It was madness crossing the street, and yet I actually love the feeling of being able to cross the street despite in the crowds of motorbikes, peddles, tourists, and commuters. It may seem so disorganized to jay walk in a noisy and polluted street, yet, somehow, there seem to be some form of order in the chaos, and we crossed the streets and reached the other side alive and well each time.

Ha Long Bay

Ha Long bay is 165 km from Ha Noi. It is breath-taking, a natural beauty displaying spectacular limestone pillars with arches, caves and rock formations.  The caves are incredibly well developed as show case to the tourists.  During the cruise with Bhaya, we had all our interests taken care of. It was truly memorable with good experiences of services, food and activities. The kids enjoyed their kayaking, the visit to the floating village and cruising on the boat and ferry. I get to do Tai Ji at 6.15am every morning along the bay, made Vietnam Spring Rolls at the cooking class, and chat with the crew on the local way of life.  Steven is in his own world, taking photos of the magnificent grandeur of the view and breeze.

At Da Nang, we have most of our dinners at Cargo, Morning Glory, and Little Mermaid. All restaurants are owned by the same boss.  The meals were so great that we kept going back for more.  A walking tour of Hoi An allows the visitor to experience all of these, as well as shop for local Vietnamese handicrafts including silk and paintings.

Lanterns at Hoi An Street

In the ancient town of Hoi An, we soak in the street scenes, the lanterns, the food. This  time we stayed in a 2 bedroom residence at Hyatt Hotel, and enjoyed the beach views of the sea and mountains. It felt as if we own the beach privately, with stretch of coconut tree lined up and no peddles selling at the beach; it was a good resort for lazing around for days.

What I like to share from this trip is about how you can add value to your product and services. The concepts applied to both B2B and B2C selling, although this happened to be a retail situation.

So how can you do it?!

Adopt value factor.  You can compete with others by add value to your products and services that are important to customers during all your interactions. The results of value add will bring positive experiences for both clients and prospects.   For example, Hyatt Regency Resort and Spa costs more than some of the other hotels in Danang, the bundling of the value added factors based on location, free shuttle bus services to Hoi An, spacious rooms, great pools, a private beach, complementary spa treatment, and the high customer service level of the staff have certainly created positive experiences.  The way I looked at it, these value-add could be the reason for Hyatt to be ranked as #6 of 81 hotels in Da Nang.

Packaging

Use bundling and packaging to add value to your product. Think about bundling in terms of product value and visual appearance. Develop bundling of products and services as a package, with the sum of the value to be more than the individual items sell on its own.  Present the products that could trigger the favourable feelings and emotional connection with the visual aspect of the product attractiveness. At Essence Restaurant, Hanoi – the set menu provides great value, each presentation of the dish was visually appealing, interesting and professional look. The presentation was so pleasing to our eyes. It has increased our appetite and triggered our desires to try more.

Create service Level as one of the greatest value adder and differentiator. Provide a higher or different level of services based upon the product purchase and customers’ expected services level. This can include dedicated personnel handling the customer, faster delivery of services, and provide relevant information for helping clients making smarter decisions. At Golden Silk Hotel, Ms Lee – the front desk service staffs have advise us where for shopping, help us to buy  Vietnamese rice paper and has written us the recipe in making spring roll.  At Hyatt Regency, the Manager has compensated us with a complementary taxi trip to Ha Noi when the hotel’s shuttle bus services missed us.

Spread your brand and be an expert of your products and services. Share how your product and services have created great customer experiences and satisfaction. While I was eating at the restaurants – Cargo, Morning Glory of Hoi Ann, Essence Hotel of Hanoi, New Day (New Day is a Chinese restaurant that claimed the cheapest and good) – what I heard was mostly compliments of the diners.  Morning Glory has a compelling story to tell about its expertise and how the company started and evolved. The story is on the front page of its menu. At Essence hotel, the service crew was passionate to share the different ways to eat the local dishes.

If you still sell the way you always have, think about add value in your sales activity and be willing to be more creative in your product packaging, higher level of services, and show customer care through your personalised services and expertise to sell more.

Question: What are the value propositions you have created that are highly attractive to your customers? Or Share with us the best experience of value added services that you had received so far?

Cecilia Sim
Strategy Training Partner, Facilitator and Consultant