As we plunge headfirst into the holiday season, many think seriously about gifts for family and maybe close friends. And the constant bombardment on radio, TV, newspapers, and the web about gifts reminded me that your customers also deserve a thank you. But this raises two questions for me:
- Why only now? Showing appreciation should happen anytime, not just towards the end of December. After all, you interact with them constantly, so why not thank people throughout the year?
- Why say something and not do something? We know that “actions speak louder than words.” Still, in a B2B world, it feels as though we have many fewer options to demonstrate appreciation than if we owned a restaurant or other B2C business and could provide a free dessert or appetizer to a good customer.
Customers Deserve a Thank You – Show Appreciation to Loyal B2B Customers Any Time of the Year
1. Teach the person something valuable. Everyone wants to keep learning, so anything you can do to further this fundamental life goal will be appreciated. Here are some ways:
- Give an extraordinary book. Try to determine if they prefer e-books or hard a copy so you can give them what they like – it shows you care in 2 ways!
- Invite them to a meeting in your company where they can get early insight into your new products or even areas of R&D.
- Invite them, as your guest, to attend industry conferences where you or someone from your company can help them get extra value from attending.
2. Help them grow their business.
- Refer prospects and make the introduction.
- Feature the person in a company newsletter, on a video on your website, or talk about your customer to their customers.
- Provide something unique to their business and let your contact share the news inside their company.
3. Make a charitable donation in their name.
- One way is to find their favorite charity and donate in their name. The challenge is not to make it so small that it appears insignificant or so significant as to be perceived as a bribe or other embarrassment.
- Another way is to decide on a handful of charities and let your customers vote on which one they want to support. You can make a small donation for each vote with the total still becoming significant, or you can allocate a fixed amount of money, say $5,000 or $10,000, and apportion it based on the customers’ votes.
4. Provide a unique, once-in-a-lifetime type of experience. Here are two examples:
- Many years ago, when FedEx first started using DC-10s, many of their customers in our local area were taken on a short flight in one. What an experience! I had never flown in either a cargo plane or a DC-10.
- I read this story about BMW and Mercedes Benz a few years ago. While it is about a B2C situation, you can adapt it to your business and customers:
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The BMW and Mercedes preferred-customer programs represent an effort to strengthen relations directly with customers who can afford any car they want. The initiatives also reflect the tightening race as BMW and Mercedes vie to be the world’s leader in upscale cars.
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The BMW Excellence Club, which started in July 2012, is currently only offered in Germany and comes automatically when a person buys a 7-Series. The program entitles members to attend exclusive events like skiing with two-time Olympic ski gold medalist Mittermaier, a private golf tournament ahead of the BMW International Open and an evening at silversmith Robbe & Berking hosted by German television celebrity Thomas Gottschalk and catered by Michelin-star chefs.
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Events, including entrance to Formula One races, art exhibitions and fashion shows, are experiences that “cannot be purchased in this form and are usually only accessible thanks to Mercedes-Benz,” he said, adding that demand for the more than 20 events this year has exceeded capacity.
5. Since customers deserve a thank you, do something special but appropriate for their and your budgets:
- Send a handwritten appreciation note with a small “token” gift.
- Send a note signed by your CEO or the whole Management team
- Organize a small dinner party for your key accounts in an area so you can also help build their networks.
Lesson Learned
Showing your appreciation to loyal customers is good business and fun and will go a long way to solidifying a relationship.
As I reread this blog, I realized I had NOT thanked you for reading this blog this year. That makes me the first person to benefit from reading this post!
Thank you
I hope you have a healthy, prosperous, and happy new year.
About Middlesex Consulting
Middlesex Consulting is an experienced team of professionals with the primary goal of helping capital equipment companies create more value for their clients and stakeholders. Middlesex Consulting continues to provide superior solutions to meet the needs of its clients by focusing on our strengths in Services, Manufacturing, Customer Experience, and Engineering. If you want to learn more about how we can help your organization create more value for your customers, please contact us or check out some of our free articles and white papers here.