Love is in the air this month, and not just for couples. As a business owner, it’s important that you show your customers how much you love and appreciate them, not just around Valentine’s Day, but all year ‘round. Consider whether you’re doing a good job of showing your customers a little love, and put some of these ideas into play.
Send a Heartfelt Message
You’d be surprised what a little personal thanks can do to strengthen your relationship with your customers. Now, of course, if you have thousands of customers, this one-on-one interaction might not be possible, but it’s ideal if you’re a consultant or if you see your customers on a regular basis, such as in a retail store.
Your message shouldn’t have any sales pitch behind it; you simply want to tell your customers how much you appreciate them. You can do that a few different ways:
- Include a handwritten note with each order
- Send a handwritten card to your clients
- Spend some time talking to each customer in your store
Offer Incentive to Come Back
One fantastic strategy for building customer loyalty as well as providing stellar customer service is to create irresistible offers to past clients. That could be anything from 25% off of their next order to a free croissant the next time they buy coffee from you.
If you want to take your loyalty efforts beyond just sending a blanket email to anyone who’s bought from you with a coupon code, sign up with a customer loyalty software company like FlockTag, which can customize the offers you provide based on each customer’s purchases.
Spread Some Love
Get into the mood of Valentine’s Day by decorating your storefront. Hand out free heart-shaped suckers or Valentine’s cards. Mail your best customers fruit, chocolates or candy. It seems silly, but when you take your focus away from selling and put it instead on giving (even if it’s just giving customers something to look at), they’ll want to come back. You can even create special Valentine’s Day offers and bundle commonly purchased items together for one great price. This applies to every type of retail, not just lingerie stores!
Ask Them What They Want
One of the best gifts you can give your customers is your attention. How can you better deliver what they want from your brand? You’ve got to ask them to find out. Send your customers a brief survey (or give it to them in the store) to find out what products they like, what might be keeping them from buying them, what they think of your prices, and any suggestions they have for other items they’d like you to carry.
Once you’ve conducted your research, consider how you can show your customers that you’re listening by implementing a few of the suggestions you received.
Love on them in person
If you’re a consultant, you have an ongoing relationship with each of your clients. But when’s the last time you actually spent face-time not talking about work? Start booking coffee or lunch dates with your clients and spend each meeting just building on that relationship, not trying to sell. You’ll be surprised what you might find out if you spend time building the relationship.
“Heart” courtesy of graur razvan ionut / www.freedigitalphotos.net
Melinda,
Thanks for these great tips on showing appreciation for clients. I especially like the one about meeting with an on-going client to talk about things NOT related to the work. It’s a great way to build the relationship, learn more about one another, and share like interests and passions.
Shannon