Appreciate Your Customers All Year Long

The holiday season is the most popular time of the year to tell our customers how much we appreciate their business during the previous year, but we need to remember to do that all year long. Every business has their competitors and every customer has a choice as to where they take their business. Customer appreciation is another way to have your business be heard “above the noise”.

Customer appreciation can be a wide range of things and it doesn’t have to cost any money or take much time at all.

• A quick thank you email or, even better, a quick handwritten note sent to a new customer helps to build and solidify a new business relationship
• Learning and using the first names of the key contacts at each customer
• Sending a happy birthday email to your contacts
• Learning the names of spouses & kids of long time customers can ensure them that they are appreciated for their ongoing loyalty
• Create special hours for loyal customers
• Have a happy hour event for your customers on a landmark day for your company such as your anniversary
• Arrange for special pricing at a local amusement park for your customers to take their families

Be sure to say Happy Holidays to your customers this time of year but don’t forget to appreciate them all year long too.

Let us know if you have some unique ways that you appreciate your customers during the year – we would love to hear from you!

For more information on how to appreciate your customers:
http://sbinfocanada.about.com/od/customerservice/a/custservrules.htm

http://sbinformation.about.com/cs/bestpractices/a/aa120102a.htm

Don’t forget to always appreciate your employee as well:
http://humanresources.about.com/cs/rewardrecognition/a/appreciation.htm