It is always nicer when you hear someone appreciating you. This is exactly the idea that your customers would like to associate you with. This is where the concept of customer appreciation kicks in.

And as the scale of businesses grows, it is almost natural to zero in on more on the acquisition, scaling, and revenue. This triggers a reduced focus on interpersonal relationships with the clients.

Do you want your customers to be mere numbers on a spreadsheet? Or you want your customers to switch to your near competitions? Do you know what happens next?

They tend to leave.

Yes, statistics back that up. 68% of customers leave because they think that the brand does not really value them.

Making your clients delighted is all about showing that you care and keeping them happy. Read on to know in detail about customer appreciation day, events, and effective ideas that can put a smile on their face. Here are our top 5:

1. Support causes that they care about
2. Thank You Notes
3. Render Proactive Deliverables
4. Prefer Human, Personalized Touch
5. Solicit Feedback

Support causes that they care about

Needless to say, prospects are rather enticed to the brands that take a stand on social or political issues. They want the businesses to make substantial contributions to the causes they truly care about. And one such burning example is the trending Covid-19 pandemic.

As much as 70% of the customers want brands to partake in creating real changes in the communal forums. Give away some time or empathy or whatever you deem as an essential contribution to such times.

Thank You Notes

Goes without saying, gratitude is vital in any business. Appealing to your customers’ vanity and making them feel special can pay off with customer satisfaction and increased loyalty.

A ‘Thank you’ saying personalized email or text, ensures that they are here to stay. In fact, a report published by the Eloqua benchmark suggests that including ‘Thank you’ in the subject line leads to improved click-through and open rates.

Render Proactive Deliverables

A great example of proactive service is anticipating customers’ needs and getting in front of an issue even before it starts to escalate. It helps build long-term relationships and imbues customer trust.

Deploying a quick chatbot on the checkout page is a brilliant way to steer away from discarded ‘add to cart’ items. Now you don’t want a customer to switch just because no one was there to attend them right?

Additionally, you can always send them a push notification about upcoming events, discounts, or send out a promotional code every once in a while. These ensure that they see you care about them. Further, offering them grace during downturns can prove your empathy.

Prefer Human, Personalized Touch

A research paper published by Zendesk survey revealed that customer expects and wants personalization. Make them feel appreciated by engaging over a preferred contact route.

Delve into the customer’s interests and use that information to cater better experience. You may also tailor messages based on the lifecycle or recent purchases in the past 6 months.

What makes the difference between being spam-like or creating brand advocates is how you render value in these personalized services.

Solicit Feedback

To begin with, send satisfaction surveys and analyze low scores. Have support reps share feature requests and asses pain points with the product teams. Inform them about product updates, if any.

Build a community forum, be it online or offline. Get together, channelize, and discuss ideas. They are organic and naturally occurring forums to exchange thoughts on how well is the brand doing. Better yet, what else is going wrong – is it good, bad, or ugly.

Customer Appreciation Gift Ideas

You don’t have to wait for customer appreciation day to applaud a customer. Customer gifting is a year-round affair that applies relevance at every stage of a customer relationship with you. Here are some battle-tested ideas you can incorporate:

• A Gift for every occasion: Gifting your clients on their special days, say, anniversaries, or birthdays show that you remember it too. Celebrate life moments with them and see your stickiness curve rise.

• A Gift that shows you’re sorry: If something has gone wrong from your end, you can always send a Make-Right gift. Show that you solemnly apologize for the inconvenience caused and this way you can save a nearly-churned away prospect.

• Loyalty Programs: These portray thoughtfulness and accentuates a ‘word-of-mouth’. Check out Starbucks Rewards. This is where its customers can earn points and get themselves free beverages and food using the mobile app. Throwing out a discount, maybe a promotional offer or a coupon code can convert them into customer advocates.

Benefits of Customer Appreciation

• Enhanced Profits: If you succeed in making your customers feel special, they will come back for more. Customer profitability tends to increase over the life of a retained customer. And since your customers trust you, they are more likely to purchase more products or services.

• Increased Customer Retention: A good appreciation strategy becomes a vital ingredient in increasing the rate of customer retention. When customers fall for your products and services, it cuts down on chances of them switching to other brands. This gives them all the more reason to stay put.

• Gives you a competitive edge: Companies who have more satisfied customers tend to have better reviews and feedback compared to those who don’t. That’s how you get a competitive advantage in the market and in the eyes of potential customers who are in the search for choosing the right vendor.

That’s a Wrap

Customer loyalty is pure gold. The second a brand exudes genuine appreciation towards a customer, it starts building better, humane terms with the clients. Every little thing that you do every day causes a lasting impact. That is what customer appreciation is all about.

Make it a consistent theme in your work and customers will notice that. Use these tips to create a good strategy and watch your profits take to skyrocket.

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