5 Ways to Say “Thanks” to Your Best Customers

It’s that time of year again when we all take a moment to reflect and give thanks to the people who are most important to us. At Humanity, we take customer appreciation seriously. We are eternally thankful to all of our team members, and of course, our customers.

Taking time out at the end of a successful work year to thank the people who have made it possible is always a great idea.

Showing your appreciation for your most valued customers is vital. It helps you further cement excellent business relationships you already have, and it can also help you gain new customers in the process.

Here are five creative and truly meaningful things that you can do for your best customers to show them that you care and that you appreciate their business.

Promote and Spotlight Your Customers

If you’re running a B2B, then you know that the name of the game is referring business to others and getting others to refer business to you. And that’s why building strong relationships and working on customer appreciation is so important.

One of the best things that you can do is to spotlight some of your best customers on social media or your website or blog in an effort to send potential business their way.

Take time out to talk about your customers. Let your social media fans know about them, what they do, and why they are so great. Everyone appreciates web traffic, so be sure to link them in every post as well.

Businesses love receiving praise and it’s especially meaningful when it’s coming from someone like yourself, a company they respect and admire enough to do business with.

Start Your Own Loyalty Program

Loyalty programs are always a great idea for the simple reason that everyone loves to feel special. Loyalty programs make your customers feel like VIPs and everyone loves to be part of an exclusive club.

Rolling out the red carpet is a great way to show customer appreciation for your most loyal clients and also drive sales.

Word of mouth can spread very quickly among the customers who participate in your loyalty programs and potential customers that these businesses interact with on a regular basis could catch wind of these offers.

Loyalty programs do not have to be incredibly elaborate. You can simply offer annual discounts to customers, perhaps giving some money back every year on the anniversary of the date on which they became a paying customer.

Making your customers feel special is a surefire way to keep them happy.

Go Old school, Send a Handwritten Note

Let’s face it, we live in a world of text messages, emails and chat windows. When was the last time—other than receiving birthday cards from your computer-less grandparents—that you have received a meaningful correspondence via snail mail?

Get your design team to create a beautiful template for a thank you note and print some out. Now find someone in your team, probably a designer again, with gorgeous handwriting and get them to write some personalized thank you notes to all of your big customers.

Make sure that the notes you are writing are very personal and specific. Tailor each one to the person or company you are addressing. You could add some funny anecdotes you have from doing business with them, for example.

Taking the time and effort to really personalize these cards can go a long way. Remember, if you are sending generic greetings to everyone, the fact that you have handwritten them and sent them through the post office really won’t mean a thing.

It’s all about showing your customers that you know them well and that you truly value their business.

Donate to a Charity of Their Choice

Of course, something like this can’t be done with many customers. So, choose a few of your most loyal and biggest clients for this act of customer appreciation. Reach out to them and offer to give a contribution to the charity of their choice in their name.

Chances are that your customers will be quite taken aback by your generous gesture and sincerely appreciate it. Needless to say, they will more than likely be saying a lot of good things about you to people they know, people who are potential customers.

And remember, it’s a great tax write-off too.

Offer Them Surprise Benefits

As most everyone can confirm, the only thing better than receiving gifts is receiving gifts unexpectedly.

Contact your best customers and let them know that you’re giving them a discount or a free gift, just because. Tell them that this month’s subscription is on you, or that you’re giving them access to an additional feature free of charge.

Let them know that it’s an exclusive offer and that you want to thank them for their business. You can create special coupons or promotional codes and give them out to a hand-picked group of your most loyal and revered clients.

Conclusion

A little can go a long way when showing your customers that you care about them and appreciate them.

However, it’s important not to cut corners when you want to shower your client base with gifts and attention. Make an effort to personalize your tokens of appreciation in order to make these gestures more impactful and meaningful.