Think about the last time someone really genuinely thanked you for something. Made you feel pretty good, didn’t it? We express thanks all the time to our family, our friends, our employees, and our clients. But how often, especially in our business, do we really show our gratitude. Gratitude in business is often overlooked, but it can be a powerful tool for creating a successful and thriving business.
Customers who feel appreciated will keep coming back and will recommend you to their friends and family. Employees who feel appreciated will be loyal employees who help you grow and sustain a successful business and keep your customers happy as well.
As we head into the traditional season of gratitude, now is a great opportunity to take some time and plan out how you can incorporate more gratitude into your business practices throughout the year. Here are a few ideas to get you started.
Create a Loyalty Program
Clients who feel appreciated and are rewarded for their loyalty to your business will keep coming back. Providing a system for rewarding them for their business is a great way to create a relationship with your clients. It’s also a good way to keep them coming back again and again and spending a bit more. We even have functionality built into your SpaBoom account that can help you run this type of program.
Create Customer Appreciation Events or Specials
Another great way to show your appreciation is to host an event or create special promotions to show your clients how grateful you are to have them. You could do this monthly or quarterly. It could be something as simple as a special reward for clients who make purchases during a certain time frame. Or something more elaborate like a customer appreciation open house with mini treatments for your clients.
Create opportunities for thanking your employees as well
Employees who feel appreciated tend to be more engaged and are more productive at work. So build some opportunities for thanking your employees into your business plan. You could create an ongoing feature such as Employee of the Month or Week, where you feature and reward an employee who has gone above and beyond. Or do something a little more simple such as an annual party to thank your staff for all their hard work during the year.
How about sending a quick message of thanks this time of year?
We all spend a great deal of time and effort on cultivating our clients and maintaining their loyalty. But one of the easiest ways to do that is often the most overlooked in this age of social media and email: the simple expression of gratitude. So think about sending out a message via email and social media this season that simply says “Thanks so much for being our clients.” So many of our communications are about selling or promoting something. This time around, let’s promote gratitude and further our relationship with our clients and staff.
As a business owner, there are so many things to be grateful for and so many ways to express that gratitude. Be sure to take some time out regularly to recognize that and to say thanks to those who help you make it all possible.