They say that every journey is really about the lessons learned along the way. I recently went on an unexpected journey and met some very unexpected teachers. I thought I’d share the marketing lessons learned.

My mother lives in Minneapolis and has an uncanny knack for breaking computers. I wasn’t all that surprised to get a call from her, saying her computer was shot. A quick trip north got her set up with a new computer.

On the way back to Des Moines, my SUV broke down on one of the more rural stretches along Interstate 35. I ended up having the vehicle towed two hours back to Des Moines and following the tow truck in a cab.

Now, meet my teachers:

Teacher – Apple: My mom’s computer was completely shot. So we needed to get her something new. Although she has used a PC for years, Apple’s simplicity was appealing. But what won us over was the Apple Store.

The fact that she could take free classes and bring her computer to the Genius Bar for instant tech support made the choice an easy one.

Marketing Lesson Learned: The more complicated your product, the more hand-holding and reassurance your customers need. In this day of tweeting and crowd-sourced customer support, there still is no substitute for access to a genius.

Teacher – Patrick Palmer: I first met Pat on social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter. A small business owner (he owns The Computer Guy), he read my blog, and we would talk marketing. Then I met him at some Des Moines events, and we could both put a Facebook profile picture with a real person.

While we were waiting for the tow truck, I updated my Facebook status to state that we were stuck along the side of the road. In a few Facebook exchanges, we determined that Pat was 10 minutes away, and he offered to come get us and drive us all the way to Des Moines. And I know he was sincere.

Marketing Lesson Learned: Social media connections can lead to real relationships. Which can lead to unlikely customers. Guess who will be fixing my mom’s PC.

Teacher – Rich from A1 Taxi: Despite Pat’s kind offer, our ultimate solution was to get a cab to drive us to Des Moines behind the tow truck.

It was a long drive, so Rich and I started talking. I learned that he had been in business for less than a year and had little to no budget for marketing. He was counting on word of mouth.

Which is awesome, but Rich made the common mistake of assuming that if he simply delivered a quality product, word of mouth would just follow.

Marketing Lesson Learned: No one is going to rave about you if you just give them what they expect.

Now Rich is going to jot a special offer on the back of his business cards to thank customers for riding with him. And he’s going to keep a cooler full of bottled water in his trunk, so he can offer every passenger something to drink. Now he’s doing something a little extra to give his customers a story to tell about him.

It was a long day – but full of good marketing reminders for all of us.

Drew McLellan is Top Dog at McLellan Marketing Group and blogs at www.drewsmarketingminute.com. He can be reached by email at Drew@MclellanMarketing.com. © 2011 Drew McLellan