Loyalty Leader Quick Tips

The holidays are the perfect time of year to build loyalty with your customers and it doesn’t have to cost you a fortune. Use these holiday ideas to cement relationships with the people who keep you in business all year-long–your customers.   December is an amazing time to touch base with your best customers because business begins to slow down and they may actually have time to chat. They’re also thinking about plans for next year and many have a little money left in the budget that they can apply to next year’s products or services.   Make a list of your top 25 customers.Answer the following questions to decide who to include on your list: 

• Who spent the most money with you this year?
• Who sang your praises to others?
• Who referred direct business to you?
• Who has the potential to do a lot more business with you next year?  

Now that you have your list, here are 7 ways you can build loyalty with your best customers during the holidays.

1. Offer free shipping on your products until January 1. 
2. Send a small gift thanking them for a great year. (Calendars, pens, gift cards, treats, etc.) 
3. Send your customers something that can help them build their business. I have sent hundreds of copies of my booklet 101 Ways to Build Customer Loyalty. Companies and sales reps frequently order them from me to give to their customers as holiday gifts.  
4. Make a donation to a customer’s favorite charity in their honor (Be sure to ask the charity to send a notification card to your customer).
5. Send something that will benefit their family, such as two 9-volt batteries for their smoke detectors, or a $5 gift certificate to rent a movie. I know of an orthodontist who rents a movie theater and invites all of his patients and their immediate family to join him at a FREE Saturday afternoon party to watch a first-run family movie.
6. Send a HAND-ADDRESSED holiday greeting card with a HAND-WRITTEN thank you note.

7. Finally, simply give your customers a personal call…with no strings attached, just to say, ‘Thank you, for the honor of letting us do business with you.’