As the year approaches its end, now is the perfect time to thank your customers for their support all year long. Thanking your customers not only rewards them for patronizing your business, but also helps build strong customer relationships and enhances customer loyalty. The end result: Customers feel more connected with your business, spread the word to their friends and families, and spend more with you. Here are some creative ways to give thanks without breaking the bank.
- Hold a party. Get in on the celebration early with a November party. A B2B business can host an event at the office; hold a holiday luncheon, dinner or cocktail celebration at a local restaurant; or invite customers to the company holiday party. A B2C business could host a party at the store or location or rent a local space. Make the party festive with contests, celebrations of top customers and goody bags for attendees.
- Send greeting cards, notes or letters. Holiday greeting cards in December are expected and may get lost in a pile of mail. However, a Thanksgiving greeting card is more likely to stand out from the pack—plus, it’s a secular holiday you can feel comfortable all your customers celebrate. Or go beyond a store-bought greeting card to send a handwritten, personal note or letter. The personal touch is what makes this unique, so take some time to express thoughtful sentiments about your relationship with each recipient.
- Give a gift card for your business. Receiving a gift card for your business with no strings attached is an impressive reward, especially if it’s for a significant amount (no $5 or $10 gift cards). Of course, your motives aren’t completely altruistic. Gift cards get customers to buy from your business and most customers will spend more than the value of the gift card in doing so. If the gift card isn’t linked to a particular customer, customers can even give it away as a holiday gift. That might end up bringing a whole new customer to your store.
- Spotlight your best customers. Make November Customer Appreciation Month and spotlight a different customer every week (or daily if you can manage it). Post a photo of the customer, a few quotes from them about why they appreciate your business, and a few words from you about why you appreciate their business. Interview the customer about their favorite product/service/employee at your business, how they first heard of your business, how long they’ve been customers—anything that tells a story. Depending on your industry, you can approach these in a serious or humorous way. Put your customer appreciation posts on your website and share them on social media; that way, customers will share the posts, further promoting your business to their connections.
- Schedule customer one-on-ones. A B2B business can schedule one-on-one meetings for coffee or lunch with top customers before the holidays get underway. Make it a time to chat, thank them for their business and ask how you can be even more helpful to them in the coming year. Customers will feel valued, and you’ll learn useful information about their business needs that can help you provide better service and sell more to them in the future.
- Surprise them with something extra. There’s something about the element of surprise that makes everything more exciting and gives even little extras a big impact. Surprise your best customers by including a free gift with their purchase or giving them a free upgrade of your service. Let them know the surprise gift is a thank-you for their patronage all year.
- Send a gift. Of course, holiday gifts are a long-standing tradition, but the key is to make them personal and thoughtful. Think about each customer’s interests, quirks and hobbies and look for something they will really appreciate. That might be an assortment of cookies for one customer, travel accessories for another or a shirt with their alma mater’s logo on it for a third. Better yet, give the gift of an experience you can enjoy together, such as tickets to a sporting event or an afternoon learning to sail.
Thanking your customers at this time of year can have a big impact on your relationship, helping to build ties that last all year long.
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