7 Ways to Show Prospects and Customers You Love Them
Everyone likes to feel appreciated. It’s a shared desire. No one wants to feel like they’re just another number or another name on the call list. Making people feel special is how we build relationships, how we retain top talent, and how we win (and keep) customers. It’s how businesses create fans, brand cheerleaders, and customer advocates. It’s how marketers ensure their product or service stands out in the minds of target accounts.
Accomplishing this doesn’t have to be difficult, nor expensive. You can create that warm and fuzzy feeling in your prospective and current customers with a little planning and creativity.
Our Full List of Prospect and Customer Appreciation Ideas
Here are seven ways to show prospects and current customers you appreciate them. And because our marketing team is a little obsessed with the 5 Love Languages right now (the basic premise is everyone has one or two ways in which they like to receive love, or in this case, appreciation), you’ll see the corresponding love language next to each:
1) Have coffee with them
I know what you’re thinking. How am I supposed to have coffee with customers who live across the country (or the globe for that matter!)? 🤔Well, the internet has made our lives a heck of a lot easier, my friend. Send your prospect or customer an e-gift card for a coffee. You can do this pretty easily with any coffee vendor who offers e-gift certificates. Or if you use Sendoso (like we do), you can send a coffee using their platform. A coffee gift will run you about $5, but the thoughtful nature of the gift will win you much more than that. Up the cuteness factor by scheduling a video call where you and your customer or prospect can enjoy that cuppa joe together. Face time is quality time. It shows you care even when you can’t be there in person.
Love language: Quality time
Price tag: $
2) Feature them
Most people like to be recognized or have their voice heard. And as a B2B marketer, you have a number of opportunities to feature or highlight prospective and current customers. Remember, these people are your target demographic and their pains, challenges, opinions, and advice make for good marketing content. Interview them for an upcoming ebook, give them some love on your brand’s social channels, spotlight them on your blog. It doesn’t cost anything, helps your content team out, positions your prospects and customers as thought leaders or experts, and all around endears them to your brand. I mean, you can’t feature or quote them without letting them know they kick butt at what they do. Being featured is a very public compliment.
BONUS: Shining a spotlight on your prospective or current customer with a simple Q&A is an easy way to ensure your content is shared across multiple social networks too!
Love language: Words of affirmation
Price tag: FREE
3) Listen to them
It seems simple but it’s not. Active listening is a skill that needs to be honed, and when we as marketers and salespeople talk to our prospective and current customers, we need to remember to ask questions and actively listen to the answers. Give them your undivided attention to show them you value their time. If they’re saying they need something, note it. But also dig for why they need it. You may uncover the real root of the issue and offer more value in the process. And I don’t just mean on the phone.
Check your general inboxes, replies to nurture emails, chats, tweets, and social media DMs (like the one above). Make sure questions don’t go unanswered because there’s no easier way to lose people’s trust than to ignore or make them feel their requests or concerns are falling on deaf ears.
Love language: Quality time
Price tag: FREE
4) Over-deliver
There’s an old adage: under-promise and over-deliver. Let’s zero in on the back half of that statement because I think in every case there’s an opportunity to do more than what’s required. If a prospect or customer has a question, answer it and then some. Point them to additional resources, make them a screen recording, send them a personalized video, share an asset, show them how you fixed an issue for them, give them a shortcut, send them your template. Or if they’re expecting an answer in a few days or a week, do it now. Do it sooner. Do what you know will make a difference to the prospect or client. But let’s be clear, you can’t over-deliver if you don’t truly know what they want. (See point 3 above 👆) Too often we do the bare minimum and then move on, which is why going above and beyond can make a real and memorable impact.
Love language: Acts of service
Price tag: FREE
5) Surprise them with gifts
One of the key components of building relationships and creating fans is the element of surprise and delight. Sending a high-value prospect or customer a personalized present is a no-fail way to show you care, but too often B2B marketers waste money on gifts that don’t accomplish the end goal. I mean, who needs another water bottle? If we want to make our target customers feel cherished, we need to do better:
Make it meaningful. Align your gift with messaging that makes sense for the time of year, the recipient’s interests, or the campaign. If it’s a customer appreciation campaign in the middle of winter, a cozy blanket (like the one at right) might do the trick.
Ditch the branding. You wouldn’t give your friend or loved one a present with your first and last name written on it, so why would you send your customers a gift with your company logo printed up the side? Branded gifts aren’t gifts, they’re swag. So many marketers mistakenly think that if their logo isn’t on the item, the recipient won’t think of them when they use it and they won’t get full value from the cost of the gift. I promise you this is not the case. Your customers will appreciate it so much more (and probably actually use it) because your logo isn’t on it.
Be as personalized as possible. Here’s a universal truth: The best gifts are ones that feel like the gift-giver really gets you. They’re thoughtful and align with the recipient’s interests, likes, and beliefs. So take what you know about the recipient and try to hit the mark. Are they a Drake fan? Maybe they have a thing for pugs? Perhaps they just finished running their first marathon?
There will certainly be times where you don't know enough about your intended recipients to personalize their gift. Or because of economies of scale, you’ll want to do something a little less 1:1. In that case, choose a gift that lets the recipient have control.
This year, we discovered Sugarwish, a company that lets gift-givers send a box of candy to whomever they like. But what makes it personalized is the recipient gets to select which sugary treats they’d like from the online candy store. We were lucky enough to be gifted this from one of our partners (We ❤️ you, LeanData!) and we can honestly say the quality was insane. So fresh, delicious, and best of all, personalized.
Love language: Receiving gifts
Price tag: $$($)
6) Make note of special occasions
We all have a friend who is just 👏on 👏 top 👏of 👏everything.👏 And that is what we should strive to be for our most valued customers and, well, high-value accounts. Do you know their birthday? See their company just received funding or closed a big deal? Did your contact just get engaged or have a baby? Send them a personalized note or a bottle of champagne to celebrate. Just make sure the card is hand-written, thoughtful, and that the people at your company who touch the account get a chance to sign it. Be that on-top-of-it friend for your target accounts and customers and they’ll love you for it.
Love language: Receiving gifts
Price tag: $$
7) Tell them
We forget sometimes the power of simply telling someone that you really value their business and their time. Sometimes people just want to know that they’re appreciated or to feel like they matter to your company, whether they’re a current or a prospective customer. I don’t know when it became uncool to say it, but the spoken (or written) word has serious power and we should take time to say how appreciative we are.
Love language: Words of affirmation
Price tag: FREE
Showing appreciation and love for your prospects and customers doesn’t have to cost a lot of money. There are so many simple things you can do to make them feel good about doing business with your brand and further develop that relationship. So don’t wait for a special occasion to tell your best clients or top prospects that you love them. Delight them as much and in as many ways as possible.