Showing customer love is an integral part of growing as a business.
But what exactly does it mean and why is it important?
Expressing our love for our customers means making them feel taken care of and appreciated. In turn, it develops customer loyalty, more support for your business, and opportunities to grow.
The more you grow, the more people you can show your love to! After all, you can use your business as a medium to spread kindness and positivity.
As a business, there are many ways of showing customer love. Here are some ideas you can try out!
1. CHECK IN ON THEM.
One of the most powerful ways of showing customer love doesn’t even cost anything!
Every once in a while, and especially during trying times like these, it’s important to check in on your customers. This allows you to find out about their current needs and how your business can provide and support them.
Knowing your customers’ needs and concerns can also inform your future strategies or even inspire you to develop or improve products and services.
You can do this through snail mail, email, video within an email, social media, surveys, phone calls, video calls, etc.
2. COLLABORATE OR WORK WITH THEM.
For B2B businesses, this is easier to understand. If you work with other businesses, there are so many possibilities for collaboration, such as campaigns, giveaways, or even products and services.
However, businesses that work with normal customers can do this too!
Here are some ideas for both B2B AND B2C businesses:
—– Ask your customers to pitch ideas for new products, like new flavors, designs, combinations, etc.
—- Collaborate with a client on new or limited edition products, services, etc.
—- Do a giveaway or campaign with a client (If you’re a B2C business, maybe some of your customers have a business that you can collab with!)
—- Host an event, like a seminar, conference, IG/FB live, with a client.
PSST! Need help coming up with marketing campaigns? We’ve got some clever and creative ideas to help you out! Let’s collaborate!
3. SUPPORT THEIR BUSINESS/CAUSE.
If you work with other businesses or help specific people (e.g. students, elderly people, patients, etc.), another way of showing customer love is supporting their business or causes that directly affect them.
Here are a few ways to show your support:
—– Simply following them on social media and engaging with their posts.
—– Subscribing to their newsletter
—– Using their products or services
—– Donating to organizations that support their causes
—– Volunteering with your team
4. SEND THEM GIFTS.
Who doesn’t like gifts and surprises?
Giving something extra to our customers is a good way of saying, “Thanks for supporting my business! Here’s something to show my appreciation.”
Remember: these gifts don’t have to be expensive. Here are a few ideas:
—– Your business merchandise (PSST! We can help you design these for your business and customers!)
—– Sample products
—– Free trials of services
—– Handcrafted items
—– Personalized items
TIP: It may be hard to give out thoughtful gifts to customers because you don’t have a personal relationship with them. However, you can use references such as current events and past purchases to inform your gift choices.
For example, your freebies during the winter can be a scarf, while a fan or water bottle can be a good gift during the summer. If your customer signed up for your service, you can give them a workbook for free.
Speaking of freebies, here’s one for you for reading this far! (See what we did there? ;))
5. ENGAGE WITH THEM ONLINE AND OFFLINE.
Being responsive, polite, and friendly goes a looooooooooong way. For one thing, it can also help you show customer love.
On social media, when your audience comments on your posts, sends you a message, or shares your content, don’t just press the like button. Responding to them helps to encourage other people to do the same and will boost your online presence.
Similarly, if you have a physical shop, simple greetings, a warm smile, and being attentive to their needs can also boost your business in the minds of your customers.
PSST! Speaking of engaging, you can show us some love on Facebook and Instagram too!
6. OPTIMIZE AND IMPROVE YOUR PRODUCTS AND SERVICES.
When you shower people with gifts, but they’re still not supporting your business, then the problem may be in your products and services.
After all, these are the most important aspects of your business. If they’re not good, pretty soon, there won’t be any customers to show love to.
Continuously updating and developing your business’ assets while keeping your customers’ needs in mind is a reflection of how much you care. If you’re not giving your best to your customers, pretty soon, they won’t give you anything either.
7. SPOTLIGHT YOUR CUSTOMERS ONLINE AND OFFLINE.
Another great way of showing customer love is to feature them on your platforms or in your store.
Not only is this a great way of supporting them, but it can also help your business attract more audiences, especially on social media.
How and where can you feature your customers? Here are some ideas:
—- Ask your customers to post pictures of your products and repost them on social media (This is called User Generated Content or UGC)
—- Create content about your client’s business or post pictures of their products
—- Ask them to create a guest post for your blog or social media and you can do the same for them.
—- Display their promotional posters or products in your shop
—- Feature customer reviews on your website, product packaging, social media, etc.
8. HOST SPECIAL EVENTS.
Another way of developing relationships with your customers and showing them love is to host and invite them to special events.
These events can be:
—- Holiday parties, like Christmas, Halloween, or New Year’s
—- Anniversary celebrations
—- Networking events
—- Simple brunches, coffee/tea, or dinners
—- Game nights
—- Product launches
9. EXCLUSIVE DEALS AND EARLY ACCESS.
This is something you can do for your loyal customers.
Before special sales or seasonal promotions, you can give them a heads up via email, text, or phone call. You can also include exclusive discounts or early access to new products.
10. ASK AND VALUE THEIR SUGGESTIONS.
Asking for your customers’ input is another way of showing customer love. However, it’s what you do with their suggestions that is important.
It’s one thing to acknowledge your customers’ requests for a certain product or variant of a product and it’s another thing when you show them you actually listened and gave them what they want.
I mean, take Oreo, for example. They’re famous for making customers’ cookie fantasies come true with their exciting variants, like their Double Stuff, Cookies & Cream Cake, Strawberry Cheesecake, and more. (We’re stopping there because this is making us hungry 😅).
See? There are a lot of ways to show your customers just how much you appreciate them. Plus, most of our suggestions don’t even cost a thing!
Which one of these ideas are you going to try for your business? Let us know in the comments!
And speaking of trying things out for your business, why not try working with our creative and fun-loving team at The Biz Spa?
We help businesses grow through different marketing and website solutions, as well as online resources. Whether you need help creating and scheduling your content, designing your website, or learning ways to improve your business, you can find them all in one oasis.
Want to work with us? Email [email protected] or explore our website.