Customer Appreciation is the Secret Key to Success (Thanksgiving)

Posted by Bannernprint on Nov 26, 2020

Happy Thanksgiving!

Thanksgiving is a wonderful time of showing gratitude to friends, family, and everyone supporting you. The reality of business is that customers are the sole reason for success, and your current standings wouldn’t be possible without their support! Customer happiness results in your business’ happiness, so take advantage of this holiday to invest in customer appreciation and express your gratitude!

Although it’s easy to fixate on the downfalls of your business or to prioritize numbers and growth, this puts you at risk of becoming impersonal and cold. And when customers feel that businesses are disregarding their support, they’ll leave. As important as it is to find new ways to drive in customers, it is equally as important to ensure that your current customer base doesn’t dwindle. So this Thanksgiving, set aside your growth and marketing strategies and consider investing in a customer appreciation strategy instead.

Why do I need a customer appreciation strategy?

Customer appreciation strategy is defined as being a tactic used by businesses to gain customer loyalty by rewarding or thanking existing customers. In other words, your efforts to appreciate their business is directly correlated to their brand commitment because they feel seen, heard, and valued by your company. This in turn encourages them to advocate for your brand and bring in new customers for your business.

Essentially, a customer appreciation strategy is vital in several key components to success, such as receiving better reviews, customer loyalty, and eventually, increased profits. Creating a customer appreciation strategy is a necessary investment that will boost your business’ image and, therefore, success.

How do I create a customer appreciation strategy?

To ensure that you can estimate a budget and create the most impact, collect optional information from customers that visit your store or site. Compile a list of names, emails, and/or postal addresses. This information should be private and secure, and only used for your business’ private use unless otherwise disclosed to the customers. This list will open several options for showing customer appreciation and ensure that you can personalize your messages as well. If you’re a brick and mortar business, you can still have mailing list sign ups in store and make a list of customers who would like to be contacted for promotions and other news. Having an online presence in the form of apps or mailing lists alongside your offline location could be extremely beneficial in expanding your marketing tactics since so much of the market has moved to the internet.

Meet with your team, and decide on a budget. Customer appreciation is the most effective when coupled with “gifts” such as discounts, coupons, VIP promotions, and other special sales, and this should be taken into consideration when deciding the budget. Brainstorm ideas that could reach out to customers while relaying your brand’s personality and message.

Here are a couple customer appreciation tactics to get your brain ticking:

Reach out to your customers often
- Following up with an order, thanking the customer personally, or asking for their level of satisfaction are all ways to show the customer you care about them and that you would genuinely like to see them again. This kind of tending creates strong loyalty between the customers and your company and makes them feel that you are taking their critiques seriously.
Send welcome emails
- If you have an email subscription or any other loyalty or subscription program, consider sending welcome emails that tell the customer a little bit about your story and mission. 74% of customers are expecting to receive a welcome email upon subscription, and subscribers who receive one show 33% more engagement with the brand*. You could also consider adding a promotional deal within your welcome email, since welcome emails can generate up to 320% more revenue per email basis than other promotional emails*.
Send holiday deals
- Customers are usually looking for deals around holidays and long weekends, so jumping on this opportunity and bringing the deals directly to them can increase your holiday sales. Consider coupon booklets or other mail for offline promotion ideas.
Personalize your interactions
- Customers love when it seems like you are personally taking time out of your day to talk to them. It’s a good measure of your dedication to not just your business, but your customers as well. You can use your customer list to include their names in a personalised email or invite them to a special promotional event that will make them feel like a true VIP. If you are visiting/working at one of your physical locations, utilize this tool by asking for names and sparking conversations with customers.
Give physical gifts
- If you have a brick and mortar business, consider doing things in-store to show customer appreciation. For example, you could host special events (ie. guest appearances, VIP snack bar, giveaways, free gifts) to make customers feel appreciated and incentivized to visit. You can also have complimentary stickers at the register or hand them out yourself. If your business is both online and in-store or strictly online, you could mail out stickers or handwritten letters to their mailing addresses.

Customer appreciation is an important marketing strategy that is sure to boost both your ratings and your success. Customers appreciate when their business with you seems to be impactful and of importance, and feel personally touched when their favorite companies send letters of gratitude. Be sure to send a quick message of thanks to your customers this Thanksgiving, and we wish you and your loved ones a day of good food, good company, and good laughs.

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