Customer appreciation is a measure of a company’s efforts toward its customers. It reflects a proactive approach to engaging customers. That makes a difference in your company. In fact, 68% of customers leave because they believe the business does not care about them. But If they feel valuable to you and are treated with care and attention, they are more likely to become loyal. In addition, customer appreciation strategy influences customer loyalty and advocacy which in turn led to increased business growth. In this blog, we will introduce you to the ways to thank your customers to get good customer appreciation.
Having a full list of your customers
The first thing to create a customer appreciation strategy is having a full-scale list of your customers. A well-maintained and centralized customer database is a foundation for all your further actions. If you use a CRM system (Customer Relationship Management), you should register all your customers with their e-mail and postal addresses as well as all your interactions with the customers. In this way, the database helps you track and moderate all the interactions you have with your customers. Moreover, it identifies their behavior. When you have a good tool to manage your customer information, you are ready to create customer appreciation strategies. And you make them into long-term customers.
Stay connected with customers
Customer loyalty is not just about what got your customers to firstly buy from you. It is what gets the customers to keep coming back. If you want your customers to return, you need to give them a good reason to do that.
According to research, when asked what service providers could do to prevent switching, 55% of more than 12,000 surveyed respondents said that a company contacted them proactively to enhance their experience. It would have impacted their decision as to whether or not they switched providers.
The secret lies in being not only a vendor but a partner to your customers. And you become a partner by making your customers feel important. Not only up until a deal is made, but also after the sale. By having some personal contact with your customers regularly, you will show that you really care about them. And you also appreciate their choice to do business with you.
For example, you can follow up with email or a phone call, just to ask how they are doing and what their experience with their product or service is going so far. If you are in business-to-business sales, contact your customer anytime they are featured on a website or article or achieved some success in their company. Providing good after-sales communication is the key to showing your customers you want to build long-term relationships with them and earn their loyalty.
Feature customers on your blog or social media
Featuring customers on your blog or social accounts is useful. Especially when your product involves creative input or is a part of a customer’s identity. The key to featuring customers is to remember their story. And you are just tagging along with it. You’re grateful that your product and brand could be involved. But a customer spotlight is always more engaging when you make it all about them. This is one example where you don’t need to go overboard talking up your appreciation—you’re showing it.
Send A Small Gift
Sending a small gift along with a customer’s purchase is a widely-used tactic, but how effective are most of those “free” gifts? The reality is that a generic pen branded with your store’s logo isn’t all that meaningful to the average customer—even a loyal one.
If you spend some time coming up with a small gift that will actually mean something to your unique customers, you can make this idea a lot more effective. For example, relevant, well-made merchandise can be meaningful: a company like Casper could consider sending a high-quality sleep mask, especially considering the premium nature of its products.
Launch a loyalty or referral program – one of the easiest ways to regularly demonstrate customer appreciation
One of the easiest ways to regularly demonstrate your appreciation is with a loyalty or referral program. While both take some work to set up, once launched, they often can run autonomously—inspiring customer loyalty without constant monitoring.
Loyalty programs are remarkably effective. When done well, they can turn the sometimes unprofitable one-time purchase into a frequent shopper and loyal customer. An effective loyalty program boosts profitability by growing customer lifetime value.
There are two main keys to a great loyalty program:
- Find the right balance between rewards big enough to entice customers and margins that keep those orders profitable
- Make it simple and easy for customers to earn, receive, and use their rewards
REI’s co-op program offers very tailored benefits, designed with its core customers in mind. Clothing and outdoor brand REI offers a loyalty program that enables customers to pay $20 for a lifetime membership to the REI Co-op. This entitles them to awesome rewards, like an annual dividend, access to “garage sales” on heavily discounted returns or used items, and REI Adventures trips and classes.
Implement customers’ feedback
Here’s a way to show your appreciation that many businesses fail to recognize: listen to your customers. Loyal and engaged customers often are your most vocal shoppers. That means they can be a great source of valuable feedback that can improve every aspect of your business.
This type of customer appreciation can drive a ton of value for your brand. Listening to and implementing customer feedback helps you create a better product. It also gives customers exactly what they’re looking for. Feedback can help build a deeper relationship between customers and your store. But only if you actually listen and act on what customers have to say.
When making significant changes based on feedback, you can let customers know their voices have been heard in your messaging. For example, a new product line or accessory that was created based on feedback could launch with some messaging around how customer input influenced your decision.
Designate a customer appreciation day
Many of the customer appreciation ideas mentioned so far are ongoing efforts. However, it can be difficult to keep up with an ever-expanding list of ideas. Consider designating a set day or week that is 100% showing your customer’s appreciation.
You can offer a daily deal limited-time customer appreciation sale. Or hosting a special event for your most loyal customers is a good idea. Another way is to spend the day sending out all of your thank you notes at once.
Remember, National Customer Appreciation Day is April 18th. But you can choose any day that works for all. Some brands hold customer appreciation days when they reach a specific business milestone, like earning their 1,000th customer. In general, the important thing is your customers know about the special day and what you’re doing to show your appreciation.
Segment rewards
The most basic rewards program uses points to reward customers for every dollar spent. But to really showcase your appreciation, a graduated rewards program can be even more effective. A graduated program segments members into tiers. Customers in higher tiers typically earn points faster and are eligible for bigger and better rewards. That means your most loyal customers see the most appreciation, with the added bonus of further incentivizing them to keep patronizing your store.
The business value of a simple thank you
Your customers are what make your business successful. Showing them your appreciation is about more than saying thanks in an email—and it’s one of the best ways to ensure happy customers stay happy and stick around in the long run. With the above ideas for inspiration, plus a little emotional investment, you can create memorable, meaningful, and sustainable ways to tell customers you appreciate their business and their loyalty.
Conclusion
There are some ways we want to share with you to help increase customer appreciation. All thing you do is provide them with the best customer experience, then it will create customer loyalty and create stable revenue for your business. If you have any questions, contact us via our website to receive the consultation.
