How to Use Client Appreciation Gifts to Earn Business and Win Referrals
Using Client Appreciation Gifts to Increase Retention
Perhaps you’ve been reluctant to invest in client appreciation gifts because you think that your business just can’t afford to give away its services or products for free.
We’re here to tell you that you might want to reconsider your position.
To be blunt, business is not so much about the products offered as it is about the clients’ experiences; in other words, your business can wag its products under consumers’ noses and still not see an increase in sales if it doesn’t start taking its clients’ satisfaction seriously.
And satisfaction is influenced by so much more than quality services.
That said, here are five ways you can use client appreciation gifts to up your following and sales.
Rewards Programs
We sincerely hope that you’ve already discovered that rewarding your clients for purchasing your products can do wonders for your business.
We also hope that you realize that rewards programs have become increasingly popular. In fact, “between 2008 and 2012, U.S. loyalty memberships increased by 10 percent per year.”
Consequently, we are of the mind that you can’t miss out on raking in some serious dough by putting your own rewards program together.
Perhaps you could devise a program in which customers work their way up to a free or discounted item. You might even decide to give your customers discounted prices on certain items each time they visit your store or website.
Free Tees
We’re aware of the fact that giving away free merchandise seems less lucrative than some of the other options on this list.
Even so, freebies have the potential to win you so many referrals.
Just think, for example, about what happens when you ship out a free tee. The shirt’s recipient presumably wears that item from time to time, and each time he or she wears it, there is a chance that someone gets curious about the business that the merchandise advertises.
If you don’t want to shell out the money for free tees, wrist bands and hats are nice alternatives.
Lending a Helping Hand to Your Partners
If you have any partners or vendors you regularly rely on, you’ll want to give them the gift of success, and you’ll definitely want them to know that you helped bring about that success.
After all, if you campaign for them, they might return the favor in the future.
Even if they don’t return the favor, you’ll still be associated with a successful business, which will be good for your business’s image.
Giveaways
No, we’re not talking about free tees anymore. We’re talking about giving away your actual product.
Simply put, giving away your product for free is a great way of hooking potential clients; if they try your product and like it, they’ll almost certainly be back for more, and they’ll pay for it the second time around.
Oh, and they’ll also refer their friends and families to your business.
Donations
Donating to charities or certain causes (yes, this counts as a client appreciation gift since you can make clients out of charities) makes your business look good because, if we’re being honest here, your business is also about what you represent, regardless of whether or not you think it should be.
A part of being a good businessperson is knowing how your business’s image affects your sales, so don’t make the mistake of dissociating the two.
Start Wrapping Those Client Appreciation Gifts Today
As it turns out, giving away products or services is not totally counterproductive. You can definitely increase your business’s following and sales by giving away freebies from time to time.
Of course, you shouldn’t get too carried away here. Your clients would love an endless amount of free stuff, but your wallet would hate it.