Tips for connecting and showing your appreciation to customers during the holiday season

With Thanksgiving behind us and the holidays ahead, there is no better time than now to express your appreciation to customers. While many businesses utilize the holidays to promote new products, sales, and exclusive deals, it is equally as important to take a moment to pause and connect with customers in a meaningful way. One of the easiest ways to make that connection is through recognition and appreciation.

For this reason, here are five ways to connect with your client base simply by saying “thanks”:

1. Send a Card – While this one may seem obvious, there are important differences in the types of cards a business may send. When sending a card, we are referring to snail mail here, not an e-card. A personalized greeting received in the mail can often be a pleasant surprise for a customer. You can handwrite a personal letter of thanks or send a branded greeting card with a handwritten note to each customer on the back of the card or as an insert. The key is to be personal, authentic, and to let your customer know how much you appreciate their business and look forward to working with them in the new year.
2. Shout it Out – If you are on social media, then now is the time of year to put your customers in the spotlight. You can do this by posting a letter of thanks and/or highlighting VIPs. For commercial clients, they would certainly appreciate a mention, backlink, and tag in a post. With social media you have room to get creative, and a little “thank you” can go a long way across your network.
3. Make it Private (and exclusive) – Although you will most likely have some holiday offers for everyone this season, you can go a step further by offering private and exclusive deals to your top clients. Exclusive offers can be in the form of upgrades, as well as additional or deeply discounted products and services. When coming up with ideas, think of the this as your VIP club member benefits; the benefits should be greater than what you offer to the public, and they should only be available to a limited group of select customers.
4. Deliver it – For some customers, a handwritten thank you letter or shout out on social media may just not be enough. For your top-tier clients, consider designing a branded gift basket to say thank you and happy holidays. The gift basket or package can be as simple or elaborate as you choose, and to make it extra special, have someone from your company hand deliver it when and if possible.
5. Email it – In addition to the personalized greeting cards, design and send a “thank you” email to all clients and prospects. With email you will have the flexibility to add discount offers, links to pages and products of interest, as well as the ability to track activity and design customized templates for each market segment. This will also give you a chance to validate email addresses and update outdated contact information.

No matter how you choose to say “thanks”, your customers will appreciate a break from the last-minute holiday deals and sales to receive a sincere message of gratitude and happy holidays. Whether you choose to go with one or all of the above listed efforts to say “thanks” this season, you will be well on your way to nurturing customer relationships, while creating opportunities to connect with new clients in the coming year.

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