{"id":54814,"date":"2023-11-01T06:00:53","date_gmt":"2023-11-01T06:00:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/hyken.com\/?p=54814"},"modified":"2023-12-18T15:52:29","modified_gmt":"2023-12-18T15:52:29","slug":"its-not-really-free-delivery","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hyken.com\/customer-service-strategies\/its-not-really-free-delivery\/","title":{"rendered":"It\u2019s Not Really Free Delivery!"},"content":{"rendered":"<span data-contrast=\"auto\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft wp-image-54815 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/hyken.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/Free-Delivery-Just-99-Low-Res.jpg\" alt=\"Value-driven customer support\" width=\"360\" height=\"432\" srcset=\"https:\/\/hyken.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/Free-Delivery-Just-99-Low-Res.jpg 360w, https:\/\/hyken.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/Free-Delivery-Just-99-Low-Res-250x300.jpg 250w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 360px) 100vw, 360px\" \/>My friend Norman Beck sends me interesting articles and newsworthy information regularly. This one is worth talking about here. A grocery store chain had a sign in front of its entrance that read:\u00a0<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;201341983&quot;:0,&quot;335559739&quot;:0,&quot;335559740&quot;:240}\">\u00a0<\/span>\r\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><b><span data-contrast=\"auto\">Free Delivery \u2013 $99 a Year!<\/span><\/b><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;201341983&quot;:0,&quot;335551550&quot;:2,&quot;335551620&quot;:2,&quot;335559739&quot;:0,&quot;335559740&quot;:240}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n<span data-contrast=\"auto\">I had to smile \u2013 even laugh out loud \u2013 thinking of how many people would roll their eyes when they read that sign. It\u2019s not free if you have to pay $99 for it! But some brilliant marketers must think the public won\u2019t know the difference. Perhaps a better sign would have read: <\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;201341983&quot;:0,&quot;335559739&quot;:0,&quot;335559740&quot;:240}\">\u00a0<\/span>\r\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><b><span data-contrast=\"auto\">Unlimited Delivery \u2013 $99 a year!<\/span><\/b><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;201341983&quot;:0,&quot;335551550&quot;:2,&quot;335551620&quot;:2,&quot;335559739&quot;:0,&quot;335559740&quot;:240}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n<span data-contrast=\"auto\">I\u2019ve shared similar information about this in the past. How often are we told a company offers free delivery, free returns, free refills on soda \u2026 you get the idea. It\u2019s not really free. It\u2019s in the price you pay.\u00a0<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;201341983&quot;:0,&quot;335559739&quot;:0,&quot;335559740&quot;:240}\">\u00a0<\/span>\r\n\r\n<span data-contrast=\"auto\">I\u2019m okay with that, and it\u2019s actually a pretty good marketing strategy that works. As an example, if I order a soda at a restaurant, I like the idea of refills. But are they free refills? Or are they unlimited refills? Either way, I\u2019m happy. It\u2019s just that one is a more accurate description of the value provided.\u00a0<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;201341983&quot;:0,&quot;335559739&quot;:0,&quot;335559740&quot;:240}\">\u00a0<\/span>\r\n\r\n<span data-contrast=\"auto\">So, consider this simple concept. For any business to make money, it has to charge for whatever it sells. By giving too much away, it would lose money. But if the company leaders know how much they can give away without losing money and incorporate it into a competitive price, they may have a value proposition that gets and keeps customers.\u00a0<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;201341983&quot;:0,&quot;335559739&quot;:0,&quot;335559740&quot;:240}\">\u00a0<\/span>\r\n\r\n<span data-contrast=\"auto\">Southwest Airlines is the perfect example of this. It markets the heck out of <\/span><i><span data-contrast=\"auto\">Two Bags Fly Free\u00ae<\/span><\/i><span data-contrast=\"auto\">. Southwest knows that when other airlines charge for something that they don\u2019t, it can be perceived as free. By keeping operating expenses low, they can charge a competitive price for an airline ticket that doesn\u2019t require the customer to pay extra for checked baggage.\u00a0<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;201341983&quot;:0,&quot;335559739&quot;:0,&quot;335559740&quot;:240}\">\u00a0<\/span>\r\n\r\n<span data-contrast=\"auto\">After reading this, some of you may think I\u2019m against free. On the contrary, I\u2019m a huge fan of free. Even if I have to pay for it, if the perceived value is that it\u2019s free, that works for me. I just think that we should be careful about putting a sign in front of a store that basically says you have to pay $99 for \u201cfree\u201d delivery.\u00a0<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;201341983&quot;:0,&quot;335559739&quot;:0,&quot;335559740&quot;:240}\">\u00a0<\/span>\r\n\r\n<span data-contrast=\"auto\">And, while I\u2019m talking about free, there is one other form of free that I love, and that\u2019s hassle-free, something I know your customers will love too.<\/span>\r\n\r\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"&quot;Free Delivery&quot; Is a Myth\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/G-TqO9cQjP0?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\r\n\r\n<a href=\"https:\/\/hyken.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Shep Hyken<\/a>\u00a0is a customer service\/CX expert, award-winning keynote speaker, and New York Times bestselling author. Learn more about Shep\u2019s\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/hyken.com\/speaking\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">customer service and customer experience keynote speeches<\/a>\u00a0and his\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/hyken.com\/training\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">customer service training workshops<\/a>\u00a0at\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.hyken.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">www.Hyken.com<\/a>. Connect with Shep on\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/shephyken\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">LinkedIn<\/a>.","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>My friend Norman Beck sends me interesting articles and newsworthy information regularly. This one is worth talking about here. A grocery store chain had a sign in front of its entrance that read:\u00a0\u00a0 Free Delivery \u2013 $99 a Year!\u00a0 I had to smile \u2013 even laugh out loud \u2013 thinking of how many people would [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":54815,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[6800,6807],"tags":[5046,5375,5408],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v22.6 (Yoast SEO v22.6) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>It\u2019s Not Really Free Delivery<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"If the company leaders know how much they can give away without losing money, they have a value proposition that gets and keeps customers.\u00a0\u00a0\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/hyken.com\/customer-service-strategies\/its-not-really-free-delivery\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"It\u2019s Not Really Free Delivery\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"If the company leaders know how much they can give away without losing money, they have a value proposition that gets and keeps customers.\u00a0\u00a0\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/hyken.com\/customer-service-strategies\/its-not-really-free-delivery\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Shep Hyken | Customer Service Expert\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/ShepHykenSpeaker\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:author\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/ShepHykenSpeaker\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2023-11-01T06:00:53+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2023-12-18T15:52:29+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/hyken.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/Free-Delivery-Just-99-Low-Res.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"360\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"432\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"shephyken\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"shephyken\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/hyken.com\/customer-service-strategies\/its-not-really-free-delivery\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/hyken.com\/customer-service-strategies\/its-not-really-free-delivery\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"shephyken\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/hyken.com\/#\/schema\/person\/b92dbe4f9f734f7c0d600fc8014b7fe2\"},\"headline\":\"It\u2019s Not Really Free Delivery!\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-11-01T06:00:53+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-12-18T15:52:29+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/hyken.com\/customer-service-strategies\/its-not-really-free-delivery\/\"},\"wordCount\":479,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/hyken.com\/#\/schema\/person\/b92dbe4f9f734f7c0d600fc8014b7fe2\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/hyken.com\/customer-service-strategies\/its-not-really-free-delivery\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/hyken.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/Free-Delivery-Just-99-Low-Res.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"customer experience marketing\",\"perceived value\",\"great marketing strategies\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Customer Service Strategies\",\"App\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/hyken.com\/customer-service-strategies\/its-not-really-free-delivery\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/hyken.com\/customer-service-strategies\/its-not-really-free-delivery\/\",\"name\":\"It\u2019s Not Really Free Delivery\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/hyken.com\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/hyken.com\/customer-service-strategies\/its-not-really-free-delivery\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/hyken.com\/customer-service-strategies\/its-not-really-free-delivery\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/hyken.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/Free-Delivery-Just-99-Low-Res.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-11-01T06:00:53+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-12-18T15:52:29+00:00\",\"description\":\"If the company leaders know how much they can give away without losing money, they have a value proposition that gets and keeps customers.\u00a0\u00a0\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/hyken.com\/customer-service-strategies\/its-not-really-free-delivery\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/hyken.com\/customer-service-strategies\/its-not-really-free-delivery\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/hyken.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/Free-Delivery-Just-99-Low-Res.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/hyken.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/Free-Delivery-Just-99-Low-Res.jpg\",\"width\":360,\"height\":432,\"caption\":\"Value-driven customer support\"},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/hyken.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/hyken.com\/\",\"name\":\"Shep Hyken | Customer Service Expert\",\"description\":\"Award-winning Customer Service &amp; CX Keynote Speaker\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/hyken.com\/#\/schema\/person\/b92dbe4f9f734f7c0d600fc8014b7fe2\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/hyken.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":[\"Person\",\"Organization\"],\"@id\":\"https:\/\/hyken.com\/#\/schema\/person\/b92dbe4f9f734f7c0d600fc8014b7fe2\",\"name\":\"shephyken\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/hyken.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/hyken.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/Shep-Hyken-Contact-Page-scaled-1.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/hyken.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/Shep-Hyken-Contact-Page-scaled-1.png\",\"width\":2560,\"height\":1343,\"caption\":\"shephyken\"},\"logo\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/hyken.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/ShepHykenSpeaker\/\",\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/shephyken\/\",\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/shephyken\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/https:\/\/twitter.com\/Hyken\",\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/user\/shephyken?app=desktop\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/hyken.com\/author\/shephyken\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"It\u2019s Not Really Free Delivery","description":"If the company leaders know how much they can give away without losing money, they have a value proposition that gets and keeps customers.\u00a0\u00a0","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/hyken.com\/customer-service-strategies\/its-not-really-free-delivery\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"It\u2019s Not Really Free Delivery","og_description":"If the company leaders know how much they can give away without losing money, they have a value proposition that gets and keeps customers.\u00a0\u00a0","og_url":"https:\/\/hyken.com\/customer-service-strategies\/its-not-really-free-delivery\/","og_site_name":"Shep Hyken | Customer Service Expert","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/ShepHykenSpeaker\/","article_author":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/ShepHykenSpeaker\/","article_published_time":"2023-11-01T06:00:53+00:00","article_modified_time":"2023-12-18T15:52:29+00:00","og_image":[{"width":360,"height":432,"url":"https:\/\/hyken.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/Free-Delivery-Just-99-Low-Res.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"shephyken","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"shephyken","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/hyken.com\/customer-service-strategies\/its-not-really-free-delivery\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/hyken.com\/customer-service-strategies\/its-not-really-free-delivery\/"},"author":{"name":"shephyken","@id":"https:\/\/hyken.com\/#\/schema\/person\/b92dbe4f9f734f7c0d600fc8014b7fe2"},"headline":"It\u2019s Not Really Free Delivery!","datePublished":"2023-11-01T06:00:53+00:00","dateModified":"2023-12-18T15:52:29+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/hyken.com\/customer-service-strategies\/its-not-really-free-delivery\/"},"wordCount":479,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/hyken.com\/#\/schema\/person\/b92dbe4f9f734f7c0d600fc8014b7fe2"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/hyken.com\/customer-service-strategies\/its-not-really-free-delivery\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/hyken.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/Free-Delivery-Just-99-Low-Res.jpg","keywords":["customer experience marketing","perceived value","great marketing strategies"],"articleSection":["Customer Service Strategies","App"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/hyken.com\/customer-service-strategies\/its-not-really-free-delivery\/","url":"https:\/\/hyken.com\/customer-service-strategies\/its-not-really-free-delivery\/","name":"It\u2019s Not Really Free Delivery","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/hyken.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/hyken.com\/customer-service-strategies\/its-not-really-free-delivery\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/hyken.com\/customer-service-strategies\/its-not-really-free-delivery\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/hyken.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/Free-Delivery-Just-99-Low-Res.jpg","datePublished":"2023-11-01T06:00:53+00:00","dateModified":"2023-12-18T15:52:29+00:00","description":"If the company leaders know how much they can give away without losing money, they have a value proposition that gets and keeps customers.\u00a0\u00a0","inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/hyken.com\/customer-service-strategies\/its-not-really-free-delivery\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/hyken.com\/customer-service-strategies\/its-not-really-free-delivery\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/hyken.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/Free-Delivery-Just-99-Low-Res.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/hyken.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/Free-Delivery-Just-99-Low-Res.jpg","width":360,"height":432,"caption":"Value-driven customer support"},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/hyken.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/hyken.com\/","name":"Shep Hyken | Customer Service Expert","description":"Award-winning Customer Service &amp; CX Keynote Speaker","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/hyken.com\/#\/schema\/person\/b92dbe4f9f734f7c0d600fc8014b7fe2"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/hyken.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":["Person","Organization"],"@id":"https:\/\/hyken.com\/#\/schema\/person\/b92dbe4f9f734f7c0d600fc8014b7fe2","name":"shephyken","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/hyken.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/hyken.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/Shep-Hyken-Contact-Page-scaled-1.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/hyken.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/Shep-Hyken-Contact-Page-scaled-1.png","width":2560,"height":1343,"caption":"shephyken"},"logo":{"@id":"https:\/\/hyken.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/ShepHykenSpeaker\/","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/shephyken\/","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/shephyken","https:\/\/x.com\/https:\/\/twitter.com\/Hyken","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/user\/shephyken?app=desktop"],"url":"https:\/\/hyken.com\/author\/shephyken\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hyken.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54814"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hyken.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hyken.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hyken.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hyken.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=54814"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/hyken.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54814\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":55167,"href":"https:\/\/hyken.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54814\/revisions\/55167"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hyken.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/54815"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hyken.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=54814"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hyken.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=54814"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hyken.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=54814"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}