Like most families, mine has year-to-year holiday traditions we hold dear. Companies like Williams Sonoma, See’s Candies, Macy’s, Starbucks and neighborhood bakeries know the importance of providing beloved as well as unique products every season to meet and exceed customer expectations.
With Easter on the horizon, Great Harvest bakery owners are preparing for a rush of customers seeking Honey Bunnies. They have become an adorable, edible Easter tradition for more and more families every year. It makes us smile knowing that our products will grace Easter tables across the country.
Each Honey Bunny is made from scratch and features freshly milled whole grains and pure-and-simple ingredients like honey.
Honey Bunnies are purchased for children’s Easter baskets, for hostess gifts, and for a clever Easter table centerpiece. Many customers hollow out the mid section, fill it with dip and surround the critter with fresh veggies. Of course Honey Bunnies are also used for fresh and tasty bread to accompany an Easter brunch or dinner. 
Bakery owners have also built a following for fresh, made-from-scratch Hot Cross Buns, teacakes and batter bread for Easter brunches and dinners. My personal favorite is Lemon Ohs for a light, tangy dessert.
Before joining Great Harvest, my local bakery in Seattle, 
Washington created awesome traditional products for holidays like Easter, perfect for busy working moms like me. I rarely had the time or energy to create anything as special as I would purchase from a Great Harvest, and I didn’t have to face a sink load of dishes. For myself and for my working mom friends, having someone we know, like and trust do the baking was nothing short of awesome, whether for a special occasion or for everyday needs.
It’s no surprise that Great Harvest is very popular among busy moms who value fresh, flavorful and nutritious whole grain products (among a lot of other things), yet do not have the time to create these products from scratch because of their hectic schedules.
For Great Harvest, seasonal and everyday strong sales are met at the intersection of needs and values. This is essential whether you offer a product or a service: address needs and speak to values. A person buying a Toyota Prius is not just buying a vehicle, he or she is purchasing a value statement, not so unlike someone purchasing fresh, warm, made-from-scratch whole grain bread, or someone considering doing business with you.
What if you provide a service rather than a product and it has no logical connection to a particular value during a holiday or otherwise? Well first off, all businesses addresses a value(s)…but is it the correct value(s)? Secondly, there’s a lot you can do about the values you communicate.
Consider if you were an accountant – in addition to providing excellent tax-time guidance – giving a portion of your fees to a local nonprofit organization that serves Easter dinner to families in need. It doesn’t have to be a lot. Consider the gesture to be a part of your community outreach budget (aka values-based marketing). It demonstrates that beyond your accounting brilliance you are community minded. This is a value held in high regard by those clients who could go elsewhere. Keep up this tradition and for years to come, you become a tradition because you provide an excellent service and speak to values through your actions.
Tell us how your small business or the business you work for communicates important values with customers through its products, services and other activities. Do you have a favorite example?
