Keeping a customer happy could be considered one of the most underrated but easiest tasks to create brand awareness and increased sales. Show love and become loved. Making your customer satisfaction at the top of your list of to-do’s has a lot of benefits.

I recently saw a subtle but impactful expression of love from Cove Kombucha. I bought a 6-pack of this brand at Costco the other week for the first time. I’ve tried tons of different brands but this box stuck out. Their branding is on point and because I’m a sucker for that sort of thing, they had me.

When I went to toss the 6-pack in the fridge I removed the box and at the bottom, there was a handwritten note, (I wish I kept it because it would make this blog all the more powerful.) The note had a heart on it and said, “Thanks for the support.”

This took them two seconds to do, but it made me remember them, feel appreciated and got me thinking about them. Bonus, I went to research their brand and was surprised to learn they are made so close to us, just in Nova Scotia. This story is a side note but leads to the point of this blog perfectly. (Where can I buy Cove Kombucha?)

Appreciate your customers and you’ll benefit from it. Here are some ways you can show your appreciation.

1. SAY THANK YOU

It seems stupid that I have to list this out, but it is important. The most important thing to me. Regardless of the position you hold or the business your part of, your customer didn’t have choose you. Every business has competition, every customer has choices. So when you do get a customer, you better thank them.

Saying thank you can be done in an email, video, social media post, blog post or taking them out to dinner. Whatever it is, just make sure it gets done.

2. CRUSH IT WITH CUSTOMER SUPPORT

This is probably the most necessary task you need to be performing. Just as easy as it is for a customer to love you, it's even easier for them to hate you. Long wait times for email replies, not returning phone calls or just not showing that you care are all ways that can lead to big problems with your business.

All it takes is that customer saying to someone, "Man, they are really slow at getting back to me."  

If that person has an unrelated conversation with someone else saying,  "Yeah they are good but I heard they are slow at getting back to people."  the tailspin begins. 

To avoid these conversations from happening you have to do two things:

1. Make sure you delivered what you promised initially
2. Once the customer has agreed that this is what they asked for, then you can begin to delight the customer. To do this, you can give them suggestions to:

• Educate 
• Help
• Problem solve
• Help grow their business (This is when they become your biggest support) 

3. SHOW WHO YOU ARE ON SOCIAL MEDIA

I always tell people it's a lot easier to dislike a business when there isn't a face to that business. What I mean by that is, if your working with a business and you've never had a face to face conversation with them or video call it is a lot easier to stop working with them.

If you put your team out there on social media, make them involved in the community then you're giving a look into how your team operates which is great for the customer to get an inside look that they might not always see. 

4. GET FEEDBACK

This is one we are just getting to roll out at ICS. Asking for feedback is the best way to learn from your mistakes and see the holes that need to be filled. For us, we are going to do this in the form of online surveys but you can also do it through focus groups, social media polls or questions, and just a phone call or email. If you're making the effort to do this, you're showing your customer you want to improve and keeping their best interest in mind. 

Things you could ask in a survey: 

• How was your experience? 
  
• How can we make things better? 
• Was it worth the investment? 
• What did you hate the most about the project?

Are you a current customer of ours? Take our survey now!

5. PROVIDE RECOGNITION

You've just launched a new product, campaign or are getting ready to start one. Showing recognition to your client can get them right in the feels. Imagine you just had your home designed with new furniture and paint from a local provider. They asked if they could showcase your project on social and their website. This is such an easy way to show a customer that you care about them and the work you are doing.

Another must when showing recognition is with your social media. For every comment, like, share, snap, repost and so many other things I can't list, it's important to try and get back to everyone in one way or another who made the effort to do these things for you. 

6. CREATE EXCLUSIVITY

This doesn't work for every business but for some, it can really elevate the brand from its competitors. Imagine purchasing a product and suddenly you are invited to a private Facebook group with everyone else who has purchased that product. What the company has done is a few things, they have created exclusivity since its private and only those who have purchased the product are in the group. The customer now has a network that they can share advice, best practice and gain support from, but also the business has put some of that support on other owners of the product since people will now chime in to give feedback on any issues or ideas others might be having. 

Other ways to create exclusivity:

• Discounted rates
• First to be offered the product/solution (Early Access)
• Priority support
• Customer loyalty programs

The Takeaway

At the end of the day, your customers are what will make you successful, not just financially but emotionally too. You don't want to be doing a job where you don't feel appreciated all the time, and you don't want to do a job where you aren't providing value to someone. So, when it all comes down to it, this is a marriage between you and your customer. To have a happy marriage you need to create a process to ensure everyone's needs are being met.