Thankful — Customer Appreciation
This Thanksgiving week I’m reflecting on all I’m thankful for. Overall, I’m thankful for my family, friends, health, and to be jumping into Makers to Market! If last year you would’ve told me I’d be in this spot I would’ve laughed. For me being a small business owner has been a dream, but one that didn’t seem practical. I’m thankful for my friends, family, and husband who have been nothing but supportive. A huge thank you to my clients, who have all be so wonderful to work with. I’m thankful to be part of your journey.
Thank you
Creative business owners will say they are thankful for a variety of things, but most will agree they are thankful for:
Customers & Fans — thank you for supporting creatives with your purchases, follows, referrals, and reviews. Without your support all these wonderful makers out there wouldn’t be able to pursue their dreams.
Friends & Family —- thank you for supporting our passions and dreams. For lugging around everything from market to market, putting up with the late nights, taking care of the kids, and most importantly believing in us.
Ways to say thank you to your customers
Here are some ideas to show appreciation for your customers:
Add a hand written thank you card to orders: including a thank you note with each order is a nice touch and reminds the customer there is a human on the other end that put work and love into the product they received.
Offer discounts: everyone loves a discount, but as a maker you may already have your prices as low as you can. Not everything has to be on sale all the time, there are ways you can thoughtfully run a discount — offer birthday rewards, bundle/bogo deals, limited time discounts.
Obsess over customer service: folks will remember how you treat them and how they feel after interacting with you. Sweat the small stuff when it comes to customer service.
Make things right in difficult situations: mistakes happen, but when you know you made a mistake it can be hard to admit it. When something negative happens to a customer (if they notice first or you do), take the extra steps to make it right. If a customer received a damaged product, work with them to get a new one sent out asap.
Customer appreciation days: set asides some days/week of the year to run specials, giveaways, raffles, etc to thank your customers for their business.
Ask for feedback (and work in the feedback): ask customers for their feedback on customer service, products, brand, quality, etc. It’s important for you to stay in touch with your customer base and people are excited to share their opinions with you.
I wish you all a Happy Thanksgiving — full of good food and good times. For those who have markets this weekend, best of luck. I know I’ll be out there shopping on Small Business Saturday supporting my local artist!
