How to Show Gratitude to Your Customers This Year

During this season of giving thanks, it is common to show your gratitude to family and friends. As a business owner, there are other people to whom you should also express your appreciation: customers. After all, without your customers, your business would not exist. While giving thanks is on your mind, think of ways to include tactics in your strategy that will show customers that you are always grateful for them.

1. Provide Legendary Customer Service

Customers will feel that they’re important to you if they are able to reach you easily whenever they have a concern or problem. To ensure this, you need to set up customer service to meet customers where they are and respond in a timely manner whenever someone reaches out to you.

One way to do this is to install a chatbot on your website. Configure the chatbot to answer the most common questions and queries you receive. You can then forward just the most complicated issues to a member of staff.

Another option to consider is to improve customer service on social media. Some platforms support chatbots or let you specify at what times someone is available. When working on your social media strategy, don’t neglect Google My Business. It has a chat feature that enables you to receive messages directly to your phone.

2. Be Honest About Your Offerings and What You Can Deliver

Of course, you want to market your offerings as the best option out there. The reality is that they are only the top choice for some people — your target audience. Being upfront about what customers can expect will ensure that you reach the right users, reducing wasted resources. Furthermore, by avoiding disappointments, you can develop the image that your brand is trustworthy.

3. Keep Coming Up With New Ideas

Never stop innovating. This applies to the release of new products, finding different ways to offer your services, and to your marketing strategy. Your brand should always feel fresh and interesting to customers. Coming up with new ideas will show that, rather than simply maintaining your business, you are committed to meeting customers’ needs.

4. Say Thanks on Social

Around Thanksgiving, run a campaign across social platforms to explicitly thank your customers. Use a distinct post for every platform to prevent followers from seeing the same message in multiple places. This will also allow you to create content that is most fitting for the platform.

To ensure your posts stand out from all other Thanksgiving wishes, avoid generic messages. Talk about why you are thankful for customers specifically and include an element of branding in your content.

5. Offer Guarantees

Guarantees are an excellent way to ensure customer satisfaction, often at a low cost to you. They are particularly useful for new customers who are still unsure as to whether they can trust your brand to fulfill its promises. With a guarantee, prospects are assured that if the product turns out to be low quality or something goes wrong, they will receive their money back.

An effective guarantee will express confidence in your offering, while setting out realistic expectations. It will have clear terms and conditions — the longer the time you can offer for the guarantee to apply, the better. Finally, it will make clear what the customer can expect as a return. For instance, in the case of a physical product, is shipping included?

Keep the wording of your guarantee as short as possible, without omitting any details. Customers are likely to be suspicious if there is any small text or extenuating circumstances that could make claiming a guarantee more challenging.

6. Give Customers Something for Free

There are several ways to run a giveaway. The right option for you will depend on the number of customers you have and their loyalty.

• Reward your top customers. If you have a few outstanding customers who make regular purchases from your company or have subscribed to your services for several years, you may want to thank just them. If feasible, personalize the gift for each individual.
• Organize a giveaway for new customers. If your business is relatively new and, as yet, you have few loyal customers, you can still show your gratitude. In the holiday spirit, offer a free trial or sample for all new customers.
• Offer a discount code to social followers. Another option is to show your gratitude to customers who appreciate your business enough to follow you on social media. Provide them with a special discount code or coupon for the week of Thanksgiving or for all of November.
• Provide a free gift with purchases. An alternative to the above is a free gift with every purchase within a specific timeframe.

The best strategy will use a combination of official, obvious ways and unofficial, indirect tactics when thanking customers. This will make it clear that you’re expressing your appreciation for the season, but it will also allow you to continue providing great service over the rest of the year. Only in this manner will you retain satisfied customers, gain positive reviews, and increase leads — all factors that are critical to keep growing your business.