Customer Appreciation: Do your customers feel appreciated ?

Businesses can lose their sense of customer appreciation just as some lovers lose their first spark over time. Whether in business or love relationship, it takes work to show appreciation in a way that the other party recognises and values.  The only difference however is that in business, only one party is saddled with the responsibility of not just communicating but showing appreciation, and that party is the business. Customers also show appreciation to businesses that value them in somewhat subtle ways, this includes: repeat business, loyalty and advocacy. I'm a bit tempted to say businesses are like men and customers like women but, I would rather not say so.

Many businesses put in more work to win new customers than to keep old ones. They would rather increase their Customer Acquisition Cost (cost of advertising, marketing, free samples, hiring employees etc) than invest in their Customer Appreciation Cost which more often that not is way lesser than the Customer Acquisition Cost.

Everyone loves to be valued (customers inclusive) regardless of who they are, where they are from, how they look, how they sound, their purchasing power or how they must have treated you in the past or they are treating you now. This article seems to be sounding more like a relationship coach's piece, but hey, we are talking customers here, and they are the same people who get into love relationships so we are not drifting. 

One interesting side to appreciation is that it dances more to the tune of sincerity than gimmicks. I have come across quite a lot of customer appreciation gimmicks that are basically to lure customers to part with more of their hard earned money in exchange for nothing valuable. Truth be told,  unsuspecting customers will soon realize they are being fooled and that will be the end of the business relationship. 

Customer appreciation makes customers feel valuable. Personalizing the appreciation makes them feel special and making it a surprise would definitely activate the pleasure center of their brain and keep your brand registered there for future business and loyalty. 

There are several ways to show customer appreciation. Here are few tips to get you started.

1. Get Personal - It's cliche to send Christmas, New Year and Birthday messages. How about sending a children's gift to a customer who has kids and interest specific gifts like a cinema ticket to see their favourite star? 

Another way to get personal is by sending personalized mails to thank customers for their purchase, and ask how they are benefiting from it with a reminder of the warranty and the business' readiness to help should the need arise. 

2. Share knowledge - For business owners, this might help, since we are all knowledge hungry. Creating a forum where your customers can benefit from your business expertise and ask questions on how to better their business is a sure way to keep them loyal to your brand.

3. Give Social Nods - We spend more time on social media these days and a like, follow, thumbs up or even a comment means a lot. It means I see you, I recognize you, I identify with you, I agree with you and I support you.  Showing appreciation and responding to mentions and  reviews whether they are positive or negative also means a lot to present and prospective customers. 

4. Touch Base - Out of sight shouldn't mean out of mind. Check up on customers you haven't seen or heard from in a while and let them know you miss them by thanking them for past businesses and letting them know you look forward to seeing them again.

What works is making the customer realize that you value them beyond their spending. Customers that feel valued are more likely to become loyal to your brand.

Do you think customer appreciation should be proporational to customer lifetime value or customer profitability?