Show your patrons how much you value their loyalty with special customer appreciation ideas. Whether you offer products or services, tweak these suggestions to fit your area of the industry. Consider the money you spend hosting these events as advertising dollars and include them in your marketing budget. If your funds are limited, choose the ideas that cost less money, or consider checking into funding sources to gain more working capital to grow your company. Even if banks turn you down, places like Business Credit and Capital prides itself on supporting small business and medium size businesses.
Drawings
Everyone likes something for free. Throw in the added excitement of winning something, and you have a perfect combination to keep repeat customers. The prize could be a gift basket of your products, a free service, or another fun item. This is where networking with other businesses in your area can come in handy, as well. For example, if you are a pastry shop raffle off a gift certificate to the local diner for a free burger. If you own a diner, trade with the pastry shop to hold a drawing for a free novelty cake or a dozen special cookies. The prize does not have to be expensive. Do this on a regular basis, even monthly, to get customers waiting in anticipation of finding out the prize for the next drawing
Special Sales
Everyone knows a good sale catches the eye of the most discerning of consumers. Once again, it does not have to be a large price reduction to grow your customer base. Market the specials based on the time of year. Keep it fresh by having the customer be an active part in receiving the discount. Consider 10 percent off purchases if a patron dresses up to reflect the season. For example, advertise that anyone wearing an ugly Christmas sweater gets the sale price on festive goodies. Or, anyone showing their hunting license during opener week receives a discounted service price.
Contests
Tie in your drawing or sales with seasonal contests. For example, everyone wearing an ugly Christmas sweater gets into a drawing or gets their picture taken to put up on a board at the cash register. Then, other customers vote on which sweater they like the most. Change it up monthly, keeping it fresh by offering different contests. In addition to fun dress up days, hold a love story or poetry competition for Valentine’s Day, a guess the number of jellybeans in a basket for Easter, and a patriotic artwork event for Independence Day.
Fundraisers
A perfect way to show how much you appreciate your patrons, as well as the entire community, is to get involved with fundraisers for local charities or organizations. This could mean matching funds for a Cancer Walk, donating products or service gift certificate for charity raffles, or sponsoring a local youth team or club with gear. (The last option also allows you to place your business logo on T-shirts or other uniform pieces you donate.) Tie in your other customer appreciation ideas, such as offering an entry into a raffle for every item of food someone brings in for the local food shelf or a special discount for anyone taking part in a charity race.
Customer Appreciation Days
Having an annual, or more frequent, Customer Appreciation Day is a must for any company looking to expand its target market reach. Hold a special sale, drawing, contest and local fundraiser opportunity on these days. Offer free food and beverages, or really cheap menus with the proceeds benefiting the community. Network with other businesses on your block to hold larger events to attract even more patrons to check out your shop.
If your marketing budget is already stretched to the extreme, and you feel like you just can’t afford even the smallest of these customer appreciation ideas, it is important to check out options to increase your working capital. Business Credit and Capital offers business funding programs for every size company. Options include cash advances and lines of credit, as well as nontraditional payment choices, such as a percentage of your daily credit card transactions or banking options. Advertising to gain new patrons is one of the most important parts of growing your business. Marketing to ensure those customers feel appreciated is just as vital to your success.