Celebrate Your Customers

 With everyone feeling festive this time of year, it’s a great time to think about how you can keep that feeling going the whole year long. Why not celebrate your customers? There are many ways to thank your customers for their business, make them feel special . . . which will make them more inclined to keep doing business with you. Here are some ideas.Special Events: The holiday season is a natural time to hold events at your business. You’ve probably already hosted a few. If not, try these next year: A retailer can serve tea and cookies during a special shopping event; a bookstore owner could hold a reading of holiday-themed stories; a spa could host an “open house” where customers can sample products or services. But these ideas don’t have to be limited to the holiday season. Think about events you could hold all year long to tie in with sales at your business, new product launches, seasonal events such as Valentine’s Day or Halloween…you get the idea.Hold Parties: Obviously it’s too late to have a holiday party for your best customers, but it might be even better to host a separate “thank you” party for them after the New Year.  This not only says you look forward to continuing your business relationship in the coming year, but it’s likely to be more memorable staged outside the crowded holiday party season.Give Gifts and Send Notes: Most businesses send holiday gifts to clients at this time of year—but again, thanking your clients shouldn’t be limited to the holidays. In fact, your gift or thank-you note will likely stand out more if it arrives before or after the flood of chocolates and gift baskets. One company I know sends out New Year’s cards and gifts annually. And this year I received more Thanksgiving cards (and even chocolate) than ever before thanking me for my business. You can also send a gift or card celebrating a client’s anniversary of doing business with you. Want to get them into your store or restaurant? Send a gift certificate redeemable for a product or menu item at your business. They’re likely to bring friends and spend more than the price of the free item.Spotlight Your Customers: Celebrate your customers in your marketing materials, from your website to your print brochures. There are so many ways to do this now and it’s easier than ever. Here are some ideas to get you started:

• ·         Feature customers on your Facebook page
• ·         Put their testimonials on your website or in your brochure
• ·         Do a quick video of a customer talking about how your business, product or service helped them
• ·         Hold a drawing or other contest and spotlight the winner in your store or online
• ·         Profile a “customer of the month” in your email newsletter

I’m sure you can think of lots of other ways to celebrate your customers and keep them coming back. Don’t let the warm and fuzzy feelings of the holiday season slip away—keep the relationships going all year long! Rieva Lesonsky is CEO of GrowBiz Media, a media company that helps entrepreneurs start and grow their businesses. Follow Rieva at Twitter.com/Rieva and visit her blog at SmallBizDaily.com. Visit her website SmallBizTrendCast to get the scoop on business trends and sign up for Rieva’s free TrendCast reports.

About the Author

Rieva Lesonsky is CEO and President of GrowBiz Media, a media company that helps entrepreneurs start and grow their businesses. Follow Rieva at Twitter.com/Rieva and visit SmallBizDaily.com to sign up for her free TrendCast reports. She's been covering small business and entrepreneurial issues for more than 30 years, is the author of several books about entrepreneurship and was the editorial director of Entrepreneur magazine for over two decades