Mike Kappel — August 16, 2017 — August 16, 2017
herblady28 / Pixabay
As a small business owner, you know the importance of building a loyal customer base. The way consumers feel about your company correlates with how much they frequent it. By knowing how to make customers feel special, you can gain more repeat business and improve your bottom line.
How do you make customers feel important?
Everyone wants to feel appreciated, especially your customers. Take a look at the following customer appreciation tips to find out how to make customers feel important.
1. Keep regular contact
To build long-term relationships, you can’t let customers forget about you when they leave your business. Keep in contact with new visitors so that they become repeat customers.
One way to make customers feel important is to say thank you. A customer thank you is a simple gesture that goes a long way. Or, you can send a thank you note showing that you appreciate their business. It can also be an invitation for them to come back.
To stay in contact with customers, get their phone numbers and email addresses at the point of sale. Once you have a customer’s information, do not spam them. Be professional and avoid over-contacting customers.
2. Endorse your customers
You promote your company through different small business marketing strategies. You can also gain more business by endorsing your customers.
Supporting individuals who buy from you is a great way to show customer appreciation. Promote customers on your website or in your newsletter. Share customer success stories and how they use your products and services.
You can draw in additional buyers by endorsing existing customers. Prospective customers value success stories, case studies, and reviews. Post about your current customers on your social media channels.
3. Get personal
You need to be professional when communicating with customers. But, a personal message shows customer appreciation. Remember your customers’ names, what they buy, and their preferences.
Avoid generic communications—customers can see past mass-messages and won’t feel appreciated. CRM solutions and contact managers are useful tools for organizing contacts. Use small business digital marketing metrics to create personalized cross- and upsell opportunities in email messages.
4. Host customer events
Nobody likes being left out. Make your customers feel included by inviting them to a customer appreciation event. Hosting a special event dedicated to customers shows you care. Invite your customers, their families, and prospects to the event.
You might host the event at your business or an outside venue. You might hold a cookout, golf outing, or dinner, among many other events your customers would enjoy. You could have activities, live music, or workshops. During the event, you might offer discounts or freebies.
Be creative and make sure the event you host aligns with your brand. Take pictures during the event and post them on social media.
5. Listen to feedback
Your customers can offer valuable insights into what your business is doing right (and wrong). Plus, customers like to have a say in the businesses they buy from. Show customers you care by gaining their opinions about your business.
Get feedback by accepting online reviews, sending surveys, and asking what customers think. If you’re launching a new offering, provide samples to customers and find out their reactions. Use the feedback to make changes to your business that reflect your customers’ wants.
6. Solve their problems
One main reason customers return to your business is that you satisfy their needs. Hone in on what a customer really wants and find a solution. Go out of your way to adjust business operations to fit the needs of your customers.
If a customer has a problem with your business, don’t ignore them. Acknowledge the issue and apologize immediately. Get to the root of what is wrong and find the best way to fix it. Then, take steps to avoid the problem in the future.
7. Keep your promises
When a customer buys from you, they want you to fulfill their expectations. Make sure you can deliver what you promise. Be upfront about what customers should expect from your business. And most importantly, always under-promise and over-deliver!
Audit your marketing materials, website, and other business resources that show your offerings. Are all of the products and services listed still available? Did you add any new products or services that are not listed? Updating these items will help you stay transparent.
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