If you run a business, it’s crucial that you take care of your customers, and one of the best ways to do that is to make them feel special. When a customer feels special, they’ll be more willing to buy from you time and time again, and they’ll also be happy to tell others about the fantastic way they’re treated when they purchase anything from you. This should lead to more sales and more profit, enabling you to build a successful business along the way. 

There are a number of ways you can make your customers feel special, and it will depend on your budget, your business, and who your customers are as to what methods will work for you, which is why investigating the various options is a good idea. With that in mind, here are some of the best ways to make your customers feel special so you can put them in place and start boosting your business right away.

Personalised Communication 

Good communication is vital in all business relationships, and that includes the relationship between the business owner and the customer. Today, customers have lots of marketing and information thrown at them at all hours – it’s constant – which is why you need to do something to stand out from the crowd if you want your efforts to be read and ideally acted on and not just deleted. To do this, making your customers feel special by personalising the communication you have with them is a great idea. 

Personalised communication involves tailoring your interactions with customers to make them feel completely and uniquely valued by you and your business. The easiest way to do this, which is always effective, is to address people by their names in emails or messages – it’s simple, but it’s very powerful, and it creates a great personal connection. It shows that you see them as individuals and not just as numbers in your database. 

You can also use customer data and insights to send personalised offers and recommendations to them. This shows that you understand their needs and preferences, and it could lead to extra sales too. 

Using marketing automation tools can help you streamline your personalised communication and do it for everyone automatically. Even though you won’t have to do it yourself, the customer will still feel special and as though you know them and who they really are, especially if you use the tools well and make sure all the right details are there, including their interests, past purchases, demographics, and so on. The more information you can feed the software, the better the personalisation will be, and the more effectively it will make sales while making your customers feel special at the same time. 

Send Out Swag Boxes 

One creative and tangible way to make your customers feel special is by sending out personalised swag boxes. A swag box is a package containing branded merchandise and goodies that fit with your customers’ interests and also with what you’re selling or what your business is linked to. Make sure you include high-quality items like customised t-shirts, stickers, mugs, or even exclusive products that you can’t get elsewhere. 

The key to effective swag boxes is to make sure they are personalised as much as possible, and we’ve seen how important that is already in this blog. As well as the items inside, including handwritten notes and personalised messages can really make a difference and will certainly make your customers feel special. They’ll also remember you because they’ll be intrigued by the box, excited about opening it, and happy with the items inside. Don’t worry if this seems like a big job that you just don’t have time for because you can actually get promotional swag boxes for employees and customers created for you, and all you have to do is order the ones you think are best. 

Offer Good Customer Support 

Customer support is a hugely important element when it comes to the good reputation of your business and how to make customers feel special because nothing makes a customer feel more valued than knowing their problems and concerns are being heard and, crucially,  dealt with. The thing to remember about the modern world is that everything tends to happen quickly, and therefore customers are going to be expecting prompt responses and for things to be sorted out in a positive and effective way. If you fail to meet these expectations, it can lead to frustration, dissatisfaction, and even loss of business. On the other hand, if you can deliver good or even exceptional customer support, you can get increased business, better loyalty, and more chance of good word of mouth, which is a fantastic and free form of advertising. 

The best way to start when it comes to customer support is to offer a variety of different channels for people to get in touch with you on. This could include email, social media, live chat, phone, and so on. In this way, the customer can choose the method that works best for them and automatically makes them think of your business in a more positive light. 

Training your customer support team to be empathetic, knowledgeable, and fast when it comes to solving issues is another very important element to put in place if you want your customers to feel happy and, ultimately, special because of your great customer service and support. When your team is empathetic, it shows the customer they’re understood and listened to, even if the problem is a tricky one. Having a well-informed team that understands your products and services inside out can lead to much faster resolutions and the right information being passed around, and in the end, that benefits everyone. 

Loyalty Programmes 

Putting a customer loyalty programme in place is another excellent way to make your customers feel special and to reward them for sticking with you and boosting your business. This won’t just help them feel good, but it can also help to put you above any competitors you might have and ensure you’re remembered over and above anyone else, so it’s well worth considering for a number of reasons. Plus, of course, having a programme like this in place encourages plenty of repeat visits and purchases because the customer gets something extra out of the transaction as well. 

The important thing to remember when you’re making a good loyalty programme for your customers is that you need to offer real benefits. In other words, these should be things the customer won’t be able to get any other way, as it makes those items feel more important and valuable (even if they’re not). One thing that is always appreciated is a discount, for example; if a customer spends a certain amount of money, they could get a voucher for money off their next purchase. Or you might offer VIP access to events or early access to new product launches depending on what precisely you sell. 

To make people aware of this programme, you need to ensure you have a system in place to tell them every time they make a purchase and remind them to log in or use their loyalty code or card every time they shop. In this way, you’re making those who have already signed up feel special because they’re part of something exclusive, and it makes those who haven’t signed up consider doing so. 

If you have a loyalty scheme, it’s important to monitor it and make sure it’s working in the way it’s meant to. By doing this, you can see which rewards are most popular, for example, and what customer retention is like. You can then make tweaks and changes if need be, and this will also make customers feel special as it will feel as though you’re really looking out for their best interests. 

Photo by Karolina Grabowska