7 ways to show your customers you appreciate them

My girls recently added some new fish to their fish tank. Over time we’ve lost these little guys one by one, and we were down to a single, lonely tetra. He was doing ok, but we knew he’d be happier with a couple of buddies.

It’s really not too interesting to watch a solitary fish dart around the tank—but it’s very cool to see them swim together as a unit. So as much as I wanted to add to the population earlier in the game, I reminded myself that these were my girls’ fish. And since they really wanted to enhance the tank, too, I thought about how we could turn the situation into a learning opportunity.

A positive reinforcement tactic came to mind. The girls had been having trouble settling down at bedtime (they share a room), so we created a sticker chart. For every night I didn’t have to come in and tell them to be quiet, stop bouncing on their beds, or what-have-you, they earned a sticker. When they filled up a week’s worth of stickers, they would get a few new fish.

The chart worked like a charm. Within a week they earned their fish, and the lone tetra now has friends. Everyone wins!

This situation made me think a bit on a professional level, too. I showed my daughters that I appreciated their efforts by rewarding their behavior, but had I been showing my clients how much I appreciated them as well?

Without clients or customers, we wouldn’t have any work; we couldn’t sell our products or services. So it only makes sense to let them know that they are key in our business, and that we appreciate their choice to work with us.

How can we thank the folks who bring their business to us? There are lots of ways! Here are a few ideas:

1. Give them kudos on your (and their) social media pages.

2. Send a thank you note after finishing a project.  

Be sure to hand-write it—handwritten notes are rare these days, so stand out by doing something different.

3. Take notes on their personal interests.  

What sports teams to they follow? How old are their kids? When is their birthday?

4. Send holiday cards. 

Consider acknowledging odd holidays, too, like: Happy Columbus Day! I’m glad we discovered each other!

5. If you have an office, provide coffee or tea in the waiting area. 

 If not, consider sending a package of chocolates, popcorn, or other treats to enjoy to their home or office.

6. Share resources. 

 If you come a cross an article or other information online or in a print publication that you think would benefit/interest your client, send it their way. This lets them know you are thinking about them even if you aren’t doing business with them at that moment.

7. Continue offering quality, personal service.

There are many other ways to honor the folks who give you their business. Go ahead and get creative! Have fun with the process! They’ll certainly remember you for your efforts.

How do you show your clients that you appreciate them?

stop, drop, and listen

It’s probably a bad idea to write while watching the presidential debates, but since I can’t seem to turn off the TV—and since I really need to write this piece (post #4 of the UBC—I’m determined to stay on track!) I’m going to attempt it, anyway.

I won’t air any political views here. But I will note a couple observations about the debates: moderator Jim Lehrer doesn’t seem to have much control over the two candidates. The author of this article I came across describes how he expects Lehrer will control the audience, but he didn’t say anything about keeping the candidates on track.

Lehrer is trying to get the candidates to stick to the time limit—but he’s not having much luck. In fact, after Lehrer gave President Obama a 30-second warning, Obama took additional time to inform Lehrer that he had just used up 5 seconds of the allotted response time, complete a grin and a wink to show his tossback was all in good humor. They didn’t pan to Lehrer at that point, but I’m guessing he wasn’t smiling back.

A second observation is that neither candidate seems to really listen to one another. Well, they sort of listen (there’s a lot of head shaking and semi-nodding indicating their disagreement or agreement to their opponent’s comments), but I don’t think they’re truly listening. Much of the time, they seem so closed off to what the other is saying that they aren’t even really hearing what’s being said.

So these observations have me thinking: would you treat your clients this way?

Of course not! At least, not if you expect to continue to do business with them.

As a freelancer—that is, a contract employee—I’m all too aware that one inconsiderate move could mean the end of my relationship with any of my clients. They are under no obligation to keep me on board for future projects, so I do my best to work with them as amicably as possible during the process. I look at it this way: my job is to make their job easier. So I certainly don't try to control them--and I make a point to listen to what they're telling me. 

I ask a lot of questions when I’m trying to learn about my clients. I want to know all about their business, their focus, and the details of the work they expect me to do for them. Who are they? How did they get to where they are today? Why did they start their business? Who is exactly their audience? How old is this audience? Are they mostly male or female? What will make them buy into the product or service? The list goes on, and on, and on…

If I didn’t listen to what my clients told me, I’d fail to land subsequent projects. And word-of-mouth travels quickly (especially when someone has something negative to say), so I clean out my ears, have some caffeine (to help me focus, of course!), and listen to what they tell me. And together we tell their story.