If your customers are all over the country or even the world it’s a special treat to meet up for a coffee date in their city. Every time you travel, look up customers that live in the area and offer to buy them a coffee. Since it’s their home turf, let them guide you to a favorite local spot.
Going out of your way to check in with a customer and spend quality time while you’re on the road creates a lasting impression for both of you.
Call out customers via Twitter to let them know how much they mean to you. The 140-character challenge: make it personal, be sincere and leave them smiling.
Another way to profess your love: feature customers on your website. This makes customers feel valued and gives them a sense of pride in doing business with you.
Cookies are a winning idea—liked by all and easy to share. But consider your audience: if your customer is a fitness guru, brighten their healthy day with a fruit bouquet instead.
11. Give a Charitable Gift
Reach out to a select set of valued customers and let them know you’d like to make a contribution to their favorite charity in their honor.
Or, get creative and give a memorable charitable gift. One clever company used Oxfam’s Unwrapped service to buy cows on behalf of their clients and named them after major projects they’d worked on. Now there’s an amusing and heartwarming way to connect with customers.
12. Offer a Surprise Upgrade
The element of surprise is a powerful thing. Thank customers with a free, spontaneous upgrade. You can play database roulette and pick five customers at random, or make a list of your most loyal custom- ers and send the upgrade to the highest-ranking.
Airlines were masterful at this practice decades ago with their frequent flyer programs, and it remains a great way to delight customers. Bonus byproducts: building customer loyalty and creating brand advocates.
13. Throw a Party
Throw a bash for all of your customers. Nikon
did this with great success by adding a photo booth that anyone could use to the nighttime entertainment. Guests received their pictures instantaneously, and the pictures were branded with the company logo.
Other great party ideas include a picnic, a wine tasting or a barbeque. Sponsor activities that encourage interaction and, most importantly, fun!
Tip: Think about what your company does best, and use it! Video production company Wistia does an amazing job at this with their
Wistia at the Movies nights.
14. Distribute Free Goodies
If you have an actual store location, provide coffee, flowers, buttons, or some other small gift or treat for customers who come to the store.
A favorite local grocery store always has complimentary coffee at the front of the store. This freebie lets the store showcase different types of coffee they carry; meanwhile, shoppers get the chance to try before they buy and have a warming cup of joe while slowly browsing the aisles. Choose what you distribute carefully so that it’s good for your customers and good for business.
15. Send Cards on Unique Holidays
Lessen the chance your card gets overlooked in a mass of other cards by sending it to a customer on a unique holiday. You can call out Groundhog Day or even the customer’s half-birthday. Another idea: keep the card professional and fun by celebrating
Customer Service Week or a customer’s anniversary card with your company.
16. Refer Customers
B2B businesses should make every effort to say thanks by sending business to their customers. Look for opportunities to refer them to other clients or link them into your network.
You can also thank them with web traffic; link to their business on your website, including enthusiastic comments and your own testi- monial, if applicable.
17. Show You Value Feedback
Reach out to customers to tell them how you’ve implemented their suggestions. There is no better way to communicate with a customer than to show them you were listening.
Let the conversation also be an opportunity to gather more feedback. You want customers to feel like they have an open line of communication to you at all times—whether that’s for praise, complaints or requests.
18. Excel at Customer Service Daily
Nothing says thanks for your business better than a friendly, informed service representative. It’s uncanny how thrilled customers are when a real human answers the phone and doesn’t read from a script.
Same goes for email—personal and friendly replies (not purely canned ones!) let your customer service team’s personalities shine through.
Tip: Derek Sivers, founder of CD Baby and author of
Anything You Want, advises, “Imagine every person you are emailing with is Mick Jagger.”
19. Discount Their Bill, Just Because
Send a note telling a customer you’ve taken $50 off their March bill as a way of showing appreciation for their loyal and continued service. If you own a brick-and-mortar store, take an extra 10% off your customer’s purchase at the point of sale, just to say thanks for their business.
20. Send Gift Cards
If your company has the resources to send gift cards, by all means do it. The card can be as small as a $5 Starbucks card or as generous as a $100 gift card to a restaurant that gets rave reviews. This is another great opportunity to use your database intelligence to give a gift that’s personalized to their tastes.
If you’re a B2B business, partner up! Gift each others’ products or services to customers—a give-and-take that’s fruitful for both businesses.
Tip: Amazon.com has a
Gift Cards for Business program where you can order in bulk or issue them electronically. Same goes for
Starbucks cards.
21. Honor an Achievement
Make your customer feel like they’re part of a big family. Recognize special events in their lives by sending a small gift, such as flowers or a plant. The event could be a major birthday, a promotion or even a new addition to the family. The thoughtful timing of your gift communicates volumes and is a gesture that won’t soon be forgotten.
22. Hold In-Store Events After Hours
Give frequent customers that VIP feeling with an invitation-only after-hours event in your store. Let them shop for an extra few hours after normal store hours and provide drinks and snacks. To create an even more memorable setting, invite your favorite local singing talent to set up in a corner of the store and entertain your guests. They’ll be no doubt in these customers’ minds that they are valued by your business.
Tip: For an extra-special evening, donate a percent of purchases from the event to charity.
23. Make Them Laugh
If your business is fortunate enough to have a creative mind on staff, have them step right up to make a funny and personalized gift. One idea: Photoshop your client into a famous movie poster, rename it something clever and email the picture with your note of “Thanks for your business!” If you’re a B2B business, even better! Your customer’s business team would look great starring in a Goodfellas or Star Wars poster.
On the easy and affordable end of that spectrum, it’s always fun to send a message from
SomeEcards.com.
24. Give Some Swag
Branded gifts from companies used to be cringe-worthy throwaways. Those days are long gone. Print custom logo t-shirts that are so soft and good lookin’ that customers will wear through them and request another. Customers also like receiving usable items (such as coffee cups) or funny AND usable ones (such as koozies), so think outside the normal swag box on this one.
25. Celebrate a Major Milestone
Every company hits major mile- stones—and customers make those happen. These are opportunities to highlight happy customers, share their stories and give them a gift that delights them.
The ideal example: Million Mile Joe. In 2011, Joe went out for a drive in his 1990 Honda Accord to celebrate the car hitting the million mile mark. When he got to the center of his small town he was met with a parade, congratulatory banner...and a new car!
Tip: No one expects your business to gift a new car—keep it personal to your business!
