The Gratitude Business Model: How to Thank Your Customers While Promoting Your Brand

Do your customers feel welcome when they interact with your business? Do customers believe that your business cares about their concerns? Building a healthy relationship with your customers is an essential part of building and retaining your customer base. One of the most effective ways to build that relationship is to start with a thank you. Not sure how to deliver the message?  Learn how to thank your customers so you can better promote your brand and grow your business. 

Why Is It Important to Say Thank You?

One of the most important steps in establishing a customer relationship is to show your customers that you value their patronage. Whether this is done through excellent customer service or a thank you campaign, a thank you goes a long way in establishing a healthy connection. Here are a few of the benefits that come from making customers feel valued: 

• Customer Trust: When customers feel that you value them, that you care what they think, they will trust you to deal fairly with them. This is important for new customers who may feel wary investing their money in something unfamiliar. They need to know that if they are not satisfied with their experience, you will care enough to help make it right.
• Customer Loyalty: Customers who feel valued are more likely to feel loyal to your brand over others that do not make them feel valued. When a customer is loyal to your brand, they will often stay with it regardless of cheaper prices elsewhere, because they believe that your business has their best interests at heart.
• Positive Brand Association: When you make customers feel appreciated, they will learn to associate those feelings of appreciation with your brand. Over time, this will develop into a positive reputation that will attract new customers to your brand.
• Better Reviews: When customers have a positive experience with your business, they will feel more inclined to leave good reviews online. As you work to show your gratitude to your customers, encourage them to tell others about the experience they had with your business.

Ideas for Saying Thanks to Customers

There are lots of ways to say thanks to make customers feel appreciated, and many of them are free! If you’re ready to say thanks to your customers but don’t know where to start, here are a few ideas to help you build up your customer relationships: 

• Say It at the Door: Have you ever had an employee say ‘thanks for coming’ or ‘have a great day’ as you leave the building? Businesses will often instruct employees to greet and say thank you to their customers as a way to create a friendly brand and make customers feel appreciated.
• Say It on Social Media: Social media is a great place to reach current and future customers, which also makes it the perfect place to share your message of gratitude. With just a few words and the click of a mouse, at no cost to you, you can make your customers feel valued.
• Say It in Your Newsletter: Whether you send it by post or by email, newsletters are a valuable way to share promotions, event information and messages of thanks with your most loyal customers. If you have a newsletter (and you should), make sure you include a message of appreciation so your customers know you care.
• Say It in Your Packaging: A slip of paper tucked into your product packaging that says ‘thank you for shopping with us’ is all it takes to make your customers smile. Start your customers’ experience right with a note of thanks.
• Say It with Customer Service: One of the best ways to show you care is to take good care of your customers. When you have excellent customer service that truly helps your customers have a good experience, customers will feel valued and appreciated. For healthy customer relationships, be sure to invest in quality customer service that is accessible and helpful.
• Say It With Promotions: What better way to thank your customers than to make an event out of it? Dedicate a day to showing gratitude to your customers with decorations, discounts and advertising. Along with a sale event, you can interview customers for special advertisements that showcase how amazing your customers are and how grateful you are to have their patronage.
• Say It With Gifts: A gift is a powerful way to say thanks to your customers. Every time they take a sip from their branded mug or carry their custom tote, they see your brand and remember the thanks that came with it.

Want more ideas on how to reach your customers? Check out our previous blog post on ways to reach your target audience. 

Thank You Gift Ideas for Customers

If one ‘thank you’ gives you customer loyalty and trust, imagine what you can get from years of thank yous through your branded gifts! You can learn more about the benefits that branded giveaways can give to your brand in our blog post 25 Facts On Promotional Products. Ready to look for some high-quality gifts to help you say thanks to your customers? Here are a few ideas to get you started: 

Design Wrap Colourama Pen with Metallic Trim 

Special ‘thank you’ designs are just one of over 99 free art templates available for our Design Wrap collection. These pens are light and easy to send in the post or hand out at the checkout as part of a customer thank you event. This particular popular pen includes trendy rose gold accents that customers love. 

Rose Gold Diamond Gift Set in Thank You Box 

Another stylish gift featuring rose gold accents is this thank you give set which includes a matching torch. Both pen and torch are coated in a matte rubberised finish that make them pleasant to hold and use, and the pen includes a stylus on the plunger so your customers can enjoy their thank you gift with touch screens as well as paper. Packaged in a decorated ‘thank you’ gift box, this is the perfect gift for investors, customers and more. 

 
Morris Thank You Tote Bag 

Put these shopping totes next to the checkout so every customer can walk out the door with a thank you in hand. Thank you totes like this Morris Bag make for a great gift at any stage of your customer interaction, whether you offer it with their purchase or as part of a promotional giveaway. Thanks to its sturdy construction and stylish two-toned design, customers can continue to use this tote at home and on the go, showing your brand wherever they carry it. 

410 ml. Insulated Elwood Tumbler 

What better way to show appreciation for your customers than with tasty treats? A cup of coffee, tea or hot chocolate delivered in a complimentary tumbler is sure to be the highlight of any promotional event. Customise with your unique logo and a message of gratitude to be printed on the side so your customers can remember your generosity every time they take a sip from their new favourite travel cup. 

Looking for more luxury gift ideas? Have a look at our blog post featuring some of our popular custom luxury gifts. 

Showing gratitude for your customers isn’t just good for the customers, it’s good for your brand. Take the time to tell your customers just how much they mean to you. Whether you do this through words or gifts, your customers will appreciate your efforts to connect with them on a more personal level.