How many times have you seen a sign or message announcing this is “CUSTOMER APPRECIATION” day, week, or month? I’m sure, like me, you see them all the time. It is one thing that drives me absolutely nuts whenever I see a “Customer Appreciation” sign. Every time I see this, I want to stop the car, rush into the business, and ask one simple question…
What happens when this customer appreciation event is over? Are you not going to appreciate me any longer?
STOP DOING THIS TO YOUR CUSTOMERS…immediately.
CUSTOMER APPRECIATION isn't a calendar event. It should be your CULTURE.
If you were a customer and happened to miss the special “Customer Appreciation” day, week, or month, how would you feel? How would you feel now that you aren’t being “appreciated” because you missed the event? Let’s say the event was “Customer Appreciation Month” and you went in the first day of the month after the event. How do you feel? Don’t you want to be “appreciated” on this day, even though you didn’t happen to be there in the appropriate month? I would…and I’m sure you would as well.
What message are you sending to your audience?
It tells me I should only shop with you during the one month of the year…the month you appreciate me. Why would I want to shop with you the other 11 months? I’m not appreciated in those months. I don’t get any specials. I don’t get treated as well as I would during the appreciation month. I’m not as special in the other 11 months of the year as I am in this particular month. Maybe I should just shop with you during this one month and then go check out your competitors the other 11 months.
You get the point. The message is wrong. And while you can justify it and tell me that you treat your customers great all 12 months, you really don’t. You can tell me this is just a marketing ploy to get customers to come in this month because it might be a slow month or you might offer some extra discounts, but that isn’t the message your customer hears. And it isn’t what your customer expects.
Customer Appreciation usually means I'm giving you a discount.
If we cut to the chase, these events are another name for a “sale.” We are cutting prices and need to attribute it to something. If this is the case, just tell your customers you are giving them a discount all month long because you wanted to move some merchandise or increase your sales numbers. They will understand this and will shop the discounts. Be honest with them and authentic.
Create some fun language around this to let them know it is in their best interest to shop during the next day, week, or month with you because you are giving them extra discounts. Tell them the truth. Tell them if you were a customer, this would be a great time to stock up on some of their favorite items that you are putting on sale. Be honest. This will build more Trust than you can imagine. Don’t try to fool them…customers are smarter than you think.
What EXPECTATIONS are you planting with your customers when you have an "appreciation" event?
When we have “Customer Appreciation” days, weeks, or months, we are setting EXPECTATIONS that something SPECIAL is going to happen during this period of time. Is it? Most of the time, it doesn’t and you are treated exactly the same way you were when it wasn’t Customer Appreciation. Is it just another word for a “sale event” or are you truly doing something special for your customers? Unfortunately, most of these appreciation events are linked to product/service discounts, not to appreciation.
The word “APPRECIATE” is tricky. It’s a very powerful word to most people. If I tell you I appreciate you, you feel special. You feel like I truly care about you and recognize all the good things you do for me. That’s what it is supposed to mean…I truly care about you and “appreciate” you or something you did for me. I care. Marketing misuses this word for what it is truly meant to convey. It has become a gimmick or an advertising trick to make you feel special. Unless you are committed to doing it all the time, I don’t feel special…nor do your customers. I want you to stop doing that and to focus on what your customer actually wants…to be appreciated…to feel special…to feel important.
Customer Appreciation should be demonstrated continuously...it should "how we do business" every single day. It is "who we are" as a company.
If you want to show your customer’s how much you appreciate them, then appreciate them every single day they are your customer. If I, as a customer, am parting with my hard-earned cash, I should be appreciated, right? I’m giving you my hard-earned money for something in return. If you are selling a commodity product and you don’t care that much about me, then just give me the very best price and I’ll understand you really don’t appreciate me. I will know that if I want the best deal, I can go shop at your business. But if you do appreciate me, there are better ways to show it. Every. Single. Day.
Customer Appreciation is more about the CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE than anything else. If you have a Customer Experience that demonstrates continuously that your customer matters and is incredibly important to you, they feel “appreciated.” They feel like you truly care about them and their lives and want them to feel special when they interact with you. It is also about how you can HELP THEM in their lives and/or their business. For example, if you are continually sharing information with them that helps them do better at what they do, they feel like you “appreciate” them and want to truly help them. They feel special and important. These two components alone can change the way your customer sees you and feels about you. And, ultimately, what they SAY ABOUT YOU to their friends and colleagues.
Customers help you do your marketing…when they feel appreciated.
Customers are awesome. They will go out of their way to tell others about you if they feel you truly appreciate them and you demonstrate it continuously. They will bring new customers to you…for FREE. They will do your marketing for you when they feel appreciated. Customers love to tell others how awesome they were treated. Why not get them telling others about you?
We want our customers to tell others about how incredibly awesome and amazing you are to work with…not that you have lowest prices in town. In fact, I would NOT want to be the one others talk about because I have the lowest prices…this is simply margin erosion…a path on the “race to the bottom.” I want them to tell others how much they are “appreciated” and how “special” they feel when working with you…and they pay a normal price, not some discounted price. It’s a win-win for you and the customer. You get to keep your profits and the customer gets to feel like they are truly appreciated.
3 Steps to changing Customer Appreciation...
First, talk to your customers. Find out what they truly want that would make them feel special and important. Find out what would help them in their life and they would truly appreciate. This is NOT a survey…this is capturing personal needs and desires from the people who pay you.
Second, create a Customer Obsessed strategy in your organization. This isn’t easy…but is incredibly differentiating for your organization. It is creating a strategy that puts the customer in the center (and first) in everything you do. When this happens, they will see how much you truly appreciate them.
Third, create specific Customer Experience Maps, Tools, and Processes that allow your employees to deliver and execute this every single day. Without these in place, it will die…it always does. It is only sustainable when there are very specific actions designed to be executed daily. This changes your employee’s behavior. This changes your CULTURE.
You can do this…and your customers will definitely see how much you truly appreciate them. Now, when you say CUSTOMER APPRECIATION, it won’t be an event, it will be just what you do with your customers. Every. Single. Day. It will change your business…forever. And you will not only get much more Customer Loyalty, you will start to build Customer Advocacy…the holy grail for any business. Now your customers will become your Advocates and Marketing Agents™ in the market. You have elevated your company well above your “commodity competitors” and you no longer compete on price…you compete on making your customers feel more special and important than any competitor. You win!
My GOAL for YOU...
My goal is always the same…help you be more CUSTOMER OBSESSED so you can become “REMARK”able™, where your customers (and others) are doing your marketing for you and acting as your Advocates and Marketing Agents™. Everything I share with you has this underlying purpose and goal attached…I want you to “light up” your audiences so they reward you well above your competitors. That’s it. I hope you want the same. Thank you…
My NEW Book
I referenced earlier that I have a new book coming out. It is in the final editing stages right now so you should hopefully see it as early as August but most likely in September. It will change your business…forever…guaranteed. Unlike I can do here is a brief article, I share specific ways for HOW to make it happen in your organization. It’s transformative. Keep your eye open for the announcements of it’s upcoming release. If you want to be on a list to know about it exactly when it comes out, shoot me an email at blaine@WOM10.com and I’ll make sure you get on the early announcement list.
