292: My Most Successful Email in 2025 is About A Gas Station

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Ever wonder what kind of email actually gets replies—and closes deals?

In this refreshingly personal episode, host Kendra Corman takes you behind the scenes of one of her most successful emails ever. Spoiler alert: it wasn't a sales pitch. It was a story about a 3 a.m. road trip, a surprise stop at Buc-ee's, and how one moment of gas station magic sparked real business results.

If you're struggling to make email marketing work for you, or if storytelling feels like a buzzword you can't quite harness, this one's a must-listen.

📨 What We Cover:

🎯 The Power of Storytelling in Email Marketing

📈 Real Results from One Relatable Email

🧠 Lessons for Marketers and Business Owners

🔥 Kendra’s Key Takeaways:

• Keep it real—your audience connects with you, not just your offer.
• Share stories that sound like you (and let someone else read them before you hit send).
• You don’t need wild stories every week—but you do need to be observant and intentional.

“Your business doesn’t equal a bathroom break—but are you showing up consistently enough that people remember you like they do Buc-ee’s?” – Kendra Corman

If you've been thinking, “I need to send more emails,” this is your permission slip—and your playbook—to do it in a way that connects, converts, and feels good to send.

🔗 Connect with Kendra:
Website: https://kendracorman.com
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kendracorman

🎧 Listen & Subscribe to Imperfect Marketing for weekly inspiration on connecting with your audience—authentically.

Looking to leverage AI? Want better results? Want to think about what you want to leverage?

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From "Holy cow, it can do that?" to "Wait, how does this work again?" – I've got all your AI curiosities covered. It's the perfect after-podcast snack for your tech-hungry brain.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hi, I'm Kendra Korman .
If you're a coach, consultantor marketer, you know marketing
is far from a perfect scienceand that's why this show is
called Imperfect Marketing.
Join me and my guests as weexplore how to grow your
business, with marketing tipsand, of course, lessons learned
along the way.
Hello and welcome back toImperfect Marketing.

(00:27):
I'm your host, kendra Korman,and today we're going to do
something a little bit different, because I want to talk about a
successful email that I had.
Now, again, people talk to meall the time about email
marketing.
I am email marketing crazybecause I still believe it is
one of the top, most effectiveand efficient ways to market
yourself and your business andstay top of mind with your

(00:48):
prospects and customers andclients so that they remember to
refer you or remember that theywant to work with you when the
time comes.
So let's go ahead and start off.
I don't usually read a lot onthis, but you'll be able to hear
my personality a little bit.
I'm going to read you the emailthat I wrote that got all this
engagement and then talk to youa little bit about why it got so

(01:11):
much engagement and what kindof engagement it got.
And, spoiler alert, it did getclosed business.
The subject line was gasstation date night with a
question mark.
So of course it had their firstname, which is like standard
personalization at this point.
But it said so.
It's 3am, I'm somewhere in theSouth, running on fumes both my

(01:32):
car and my body, and I findmyself in what can only be
described as a gas station themepark that is inexplicably
packed with people.
Welcome to my first Buc-ee'sexperience.
Let me back up a little bit.
Life threw me a curveball whenmy mom took a fall earlier this
month, resulting in a brainbleed and a fractured vertebrae.

(01:52):
Cue the emergency road trip toFlorida, 25 hours of tag team
driving, with my husband takingtwo hour sleep shifts.
So I would drive for two hours,he would drive for two hours
and we would sleep in between.
Now, mom was in rehab at thetime.
So it said mom's in rehab nowworking her way back to full
strength.
And that's how I ended up atBuc-ee's, at an hour when most

(02:14):
convenient stores have exactlytwo customers a tired trucker
and someone making questionablelife choices the Buc-ee's
marketing magic.
So here's what struck me besidethe sheer number of gas pumps
Seriously, are they preparingfor the apocalypse?
Those billboards?
They started 131 plus milesbefore you reach the place.

(02:36):
131 miles, people.
By mile 15, I'm thinking what'sthis Buc-ee's?
I've heard of it, is it reallythat good?
By mile 85, I'm thinking what'sthis bookies?
I've heard of it.
Is it really that good?
By mile 85, I'm thinking Ishould probably check it out.
By mile 130, I'm ready to fightsomeone for a parking spot,
just so you know.
Side note, we didn't need to.
Without those constantreminders, we could have pulled

(03:00):
over at any old fast food joint.
Instead, we held out for thatbrisket sandwich that lived up
to the height and some trulyexcellent pecans.
So what's your business?
What's your billboard strategy?
So this got me thinking.
What are you doing to stay topof mind with your audience?
Are you reminding?
How are you reminding peopleyou exist?
You're awesome?
They should think of you firstwhen they need what you offer.
Because that's exactly whatBuc-ee's did Between word of

(03:23):
mouth raves and strategicreminders they assured.
Even in my sleep deprived state,I remembered they were an
option.
Now, your business does notequal a bathroom break.
So let's be real.
Most of us don't have billboardbudgets, but we do have email
newsletters.
Hey, like this one.
Social media, networking events, follow up systems and content
that provides value.

(03:43):
The question isn't whether youcan afford billboards.
It's whether you'reconsistently showing up where
your people are.
Now the ultimate compliment wasfinal thought.
I genuinely considered Bucky'sa date night alternative to
Costco.
If that's not high praise for agas station, I don't know what
is.
What about you?
What business has earned yourloyalty through sheer

(04:05):
persistence and quality?
And, more importantly, what areyou doing to be that business
for someone else Until next week?
Kendra PS.
If anyone from Buc-ee's isreading this, michigan would
love to see you Just saying so.
Let's talk about metrics.
I had more than 2% of my listreply.

(04:27):
They took a step to actuallyreply to me.
I set up four calls withprospects.
From this I have one piece ofclosed business and, at the time
of recording, the other threecalls are still being scheduled
Four potential pieces ofbusiness from one email about my
experience with Buc-ee's.

(04:47):
Was it really Buc-ee's that didit?
Was it the email?
Was it the storytelling?
I'm going to say yes, yes andyes.
So it was a relatable storythat was authentically me, that
was shared with a little side ofvulnerability, right, because I
did share about my mom and herfall and why I was headed down
to Florida, but really the powerwas in keeping me top of mind.

(05:10):
People had thought aboutworking with me and they're like
you know what I want to get.
This reaction that I'm havingfrom my prospects and clients
and that's what sold them onwanting to reach out One email
that was not a sales email couldresult in potentially four

(05:31):
pieces of closed business.
That's huge, right?
So I want you thinking abouthow you're able to stay top of
mind.
How can you be authentic?
How can you find those stories?
Because everyone's like, oh,storytelling it's so easy.
Right, it's not easy.
I agree, you're not going tohave a Bucky's story at 3am

(05:54):
every single week, right?
I mean, let's be realistic.
I think we'd be exhausted if wehad those types of stories
every week.
But sharing those experiences,sharing those, those angles,
being perceptive and observantin your business and in your
life as to how different thingsrelate, really can help you move

(06:16):
forward.
And if you can't think aboutwhat those things are, then ask
somebody to help you, right?
A lot of times we're just tooclose to our own business to
always see it.
I did have my husband read theemail because I was like is this
too much.
What do you think?
And he's like no, no, no, it'sgood.
So I'm glad I had him read it,but I'm also glad that I hit
send on that email Again.

(06:38):
Couple things to think about.
It was a unique story, adifferent angle.
It was something that couldconnect with my audience.
It felt like I was talking tothem, because they replied as if
they would and I had sent thema regular email.
That is so important, right?
So I want you thinking abouthow can you bring storytelling,

(07:02):
how can you bring yourauthenticity, how can you bring
your observations from your lifeinto your business and your
communications?
And then, of course, I'm alwaysgoing to tell you to do email
marketing, because emailmarketing is amazing and it does
really help you keep yourselftop of mind, and so sending
those emails out consistently,sending them out on a regular

(07:23):
basis in a way thatauthentically connects you to
your audience, is hugelyimportant.
So thank you for tuning in tothis week's episode of Imperfect
Marketing.
I hope that you learnedsomething from this episode and,
if you did, it would reallyhelp me out if you would rate
and subscribe Until next time.
Have a great rest of your day.