10 Ways to Make Your Customers Feel Valued
Creating the Best Possible Customer Experience
Your customers are the lifeblood of your business, but do they feel appreciated? Doing things to make your customers feel valuable and important can help you build a stronger and more loyal customer base. Often small kindnesses are all it takes to let your customers know how much they mean to you.
1. Share Tips to Maintain Product Service Life
Does your business have an online blog? Use it as a platform to share tips with your customers about maintaining their product and extending its service life. They’ll be grateful to know that you’re trying to save them money by helping them keep their product working well for the years to come.
Social media is another great way to share helpful tips and videos about your products and services. Your customers can share those posts with their followers and help get your business additional word-of-mouth traffic.
Learn more about how social media video can help you grow.
2. Be Kind!
Customers love to be treated with kindness. A quick hello when a customer enters and a smile at checkout can make your store a more pleasant place to be. Train employees to be friendly and personable with customers, and if you feel it’s appropriate, give them authority to please unsatisfied customers with small discounts or free gifts.
3. Respect the Time of Your Customers
Long lines make customers feel like you don’t care about their time. Hiring additional staff during your busy season, eliminating redundancies from your processes and streamlining customers can keep lines moving and get your customers get the help they need at a quicker pace.
4. Send Cards
Cards sent during the holidays, on special occasions or just ’cause tells your customers that they mean something to your business. If your customer base is small enough, you can even use handwritten messages to wow them and let them know that they are appreciated.
5. Reward Brand Loyalty
Return customers are one of your business’s most valuable assets. Encouraging brand loyalty with a rewards program or by providing perks to your best customers can strengthen your relationship and encourage your customers to keep coming back for more.
6. Hold Fun Events After Hours
After hours events show your customers that you like to spend time with them, even outside normal business hours. Hold an annual party to have food, drinks, good music and good conversation with your customers. Whether you own a book store or a consulting firm, customers love a good party and they love feeling pampered by the businesses that mean the most to them.
7. Give Gifts
Send something small to your best customers. This can happen spontaneously in the middle of the year, or at a time like the holidays when the spirit of giving is in the air. The gifts you give don’t have to be expensive, but give good consideration to the gifts you choose for your customers before sending something out. Not sure what will mean the most? If you’re strapped for ideas, send customers a coupon for a free product in your stores.
8. Follow Up in Person
Have you encountered an unhappy customer recently? Follow up in person once you’re sure the situation has been resolved. Contact the customer just to let them know that you’re sorry the incident occurred and tell them what you’ve done to make things better. Apologies mean a lot, and many customers will feel far less angry when they’re taken care of personally.
9. Remember Names
Nothing tickles a customer more than to shop at a store where they are remembered. Make an effort to chat with repeat customers, and do your best to remember their names. When a familiar customer comes in, greet them by name and show them that you’re glad they’ve returned.
10. Go Way, Way Out of Your Way
Stories of amazing customer service spread like wildfire among consumers. Going above and beyond the call of duty as a business owner can get your business noticed and can solidify brand loyalty among clients. Depending on what you do, going way out of your way can be costly, but the free advertising you’ll get through word of mouth will make it all worth while. Encourage your employees to strive for exceptional customer experiences by teaching them about healthy leadership and personal growth.
Learn more about leadership training here.
What else can you do to make your customers feel valued and special? Oh so many things! At Splash Omnimedia, we help clients use marketing to build brand loyalty and forge excellent relationships with customers. To find out more, contact our team today!
