Five Great Ways to Say Thanks to Your Customers
Here we are in the midst of the holiday season, and many small business owners, myself included, are searching for ways to say thanks to our customers and clients. Making the right choice is often difficult, particularly with tight budgets. How much should you spend? What’s appropriate and what’s not? To help you make a positive impression, I’ve put together some great ways to say thanks this holiday season. 1. Give a Gift. Start off by establishing a budget for your holiday gifting. Think about how much you can afford per client. Of course, if they’ve spent a significant amount this year, you may want to spend a little more. Keep in mind, however, if you have corporate clients there’s generally a limit on how much they can accept so check with their HR department. Some of the best gifts are things that can be shared with their team members or families. For example, my company sent over-sized chocolate bars with our company logo one year. The goal is to make your customers feel special and appreciated. One of the restaurants I frequent in New York always gives me a bottle of wine during the holidays which I look forward to. So it doesn’t have to be a big, expensive gift. As they say, it’s the thought that counts. 2. Send a card. I’m not a fan of snail mail paper cards because I don’t think we need to kill trees to communicate. However, whether it’s a paper product or a digital greeting, a card is a nice way to say thank you during the holidays. If you’re sending cards, be creative. Instead of using the standard “Happy Holidays” or “Seasons Greetings” craft a special message, unique to your business, to include with your holiday cheers. If you’re using a digital version, you can add photos of your team or perhaps include a fun holiday video. Whatever you send should remain consistent with your branding messages. 3. Give Back. One of my favorite ways to show thanks during the holidays is to donate to a charity in honor of my customers. Once when I was a partner in an advertising agency where most of our clients were corporate, we decided to donate playground equipment to a local children’s shelter in their behalf. We ordered the equipment and when it was arrived, we visited the shelter and took a group picture in our Santa hats sitting on the swings and slide. Then we turned that photo into a card with a note that the children were now enjoying playtime because of our customers, and we thanked them for their continued support. (This was before digital media.) We had an overwhelmingly positive response. Whether it’s a local charity, an industry foundation or even a scholarship fund, you’re clients will appreciate your philanthropic efforts in their honor. Edit Edit date and time 4. Special Promotion. We know that customers are price sensitive in today’s market. Everyone is looking for a “deal”. So a special discount or promotion just for your top customers could be a big hit. Send them a gift certificate for a future service or a product. Offer a nice discount on business they do with you in December. Be careful not to make it look as though it’s business...
read moreSmall Businesses Anticipate a Very Happy Holiday Season This Year.
While small business optimism remains low in general according to the NFIB’s October 2014 Optimism Index, small businesses seem to be anticipating a successful holiday sales season. According to survey results released by Capital One’s Spark Business Barometer, a majority (57 percent) of business owners believe current business conditions are excellent or good (up 10 points from the same quarter in 2013) and that 43 percent experienced increased sales over the past six months (up from 32 percent one year ago). They also feel good about the coming holiday season – with 71 percent expecting consistent or better sales results compared to last year. In preparation for the New Year, respondents to the survey said their top three priorities, aside from attracting and retaining new customers — are enhancing advertising and marketing, reducing costs and expenses and improving cash and financial management processes. But there is no doubt challenges remain for small business growth. The NFIB survey found small business owners are slightly less optimistic about business over the next six months as well as the outlook for expansion. Their top three concerns — government regulations, taxes and poor sales. Interestingly, a record low percentage of small business owners reported problems getting access to capital and an unusually high number of owners say they have no interest in borrowing. “The political class and a fair number of economists have assumed for years that small business is starved for credit,” said Dunkelberg. “That appears to be an egregious misdiagnosis. Local business owners, for the most part, can borrow all they need but mainly, they’re not interested now in taking on debt because they’re not confident in the future.” What are your thoughts about this holiday season and the coming year? Are you positioning your small business for growth? ...
read morePeople Can and Do Judge a Book By Its Cover!
Call me old fashioned, but I rarely leave home without making sure I look nice. Yes, there are those days when I’m not all gussied up, but I never leave home dressed in such a way I’d feel uncomfortable if I ran into customers or clients. People make fun of me sometimes because of my focus on appearance. A lot of friends and business associates say, “It doesn’t matter. No one cares.” But people make assumptions about you and your abilities based on your appearance. Since the1990’s there’s been a shift in what’s considered appropriate business attire. Leading experts proclaimed employees would be more productive if they dressed casually and comfortably at work. So companies started permitting team members to trade in business suits for a more casual wardrobe. Today, the pendulum is beginning to swing back — unless perhaps if you’re Mark Zuckerberg. Experts are finding casual attire often results in casual or sloppy performance. In fact, The New York Enterprise Report quoted Guy Kawasaki as saying, “Likeability starts with a great smile, a great handshake and appropriate dress. Though they are duh’isms, many people don’t do them. In fact, most people don’t do them.” As a business owner, it’s important to recognize that what you wear and how you look is an important element of your business brand. Whether you like it or not, people have a tendency to make immediate impressions of your professionalism from your appearance. Dressing professionally provides instant credibility and signals to clients, customers and colleagues that they’re working with someone who takes the position...
read moreHo-Ho-HO — Could QVC be the Right Gift for Your Small Business?
It’s the holidays and many people this week are hitting the stores or shopping on line. But then there are those who do their shopping while propped up in their recliner — channel changer in hand. You might be wondering what it would be like to see thousands of items via QVC or HSN. What a boom that would be for your business. Legions of these network’s loyal shoppers can turn a little-known retail item into a viral shopping phenomenon. That’s both good and bad news for the small business owner who has developed the next great product that falls into one of the categories typically featured on these cable shopping networks. A product can get instant national recognition, but you must have enough on hand to efficiently meet demand. We aren’t on Etsy anymore, Toto Anyone making a beautiful reversible skirt that goes from office to evening wear and selling it on Etsy can’t still be making a few by hand on weekends. Serious manufacturing chops are required. However, don’t abandon all hope if you have a great idea. QVC, for example, will look at working prototypes, according to the info they post for aspiring vendors. The story is about the same over at HSN. However, it looks like HSN will go out of its way a little further to help inventors and small business owners get a great idea to a manufacturer. You can expect a network like QVC to place a wholesale order for about $30,000-$35,000 of an item. That is a significant amount of a single product. Producing that much “on spec” can be expensive and might prompt some small business owners to look for an investor to share the risk. At HSN, the inventory threshold isn’t as high. That network expects vendors to have enough product to support a $5,000 purchase order. If you get serious about placing any of your products on a cable TV home shopping channel, there’s a good chance you’ll find yourself shopping fulfillment services. QVC, for example, warehouses some of the items it features, but most are drop shipped. If you don’t have warehouse space and a shipping crew to promptly meet demand, it’s smart to go with a reputable fulfillment company. Further, contracting with a firm located in middle of this big country, will help you keep customers on both coasts happy. Good product, good narrative Not long ago, Marilyn Montross, QVC’s director of vendor relations, talked about their search for products: “QVC is very open, and in fact eager, to find entrepreneurs to do business with because our customers love the kinds of innovative products that vendor base brings to QVC.” And when she discussed what makes a successful product, it sounded a lot like what makes a successful social media presence. “(Entrepreneurs) also generally come with a back story that’s of interest to the customer. Customers really enjoy rooting for people who could very well be their neighbor or their nephew,” Montross said. Have a great product or prototype along with a good back story? If so, maybe you’re just one QVC or HSN submission away from the big...
read moreDon’t Give Away Your Power. Stay Focused on Your Success.
Many years ago, a newspaper reporter asked me, “Susan, are there people who would like to see you fail?” “Absolutely. And I’m glad there are,” I replied. Surprised by my answer the reporter asked me to explain what I meant. The explanation is simple. The more successful you become in your life and in your business, the more there will be people who want you to fail. People who lack the ambition and drive to work hard to achieve their own success would rather throw daggers at you in order to make themselves feel better. While their actions may be hurtful, they are only harmful if you give them credibility. When people attack you, they are hoping for a reaction from you. So if you react, they win and you’ve given away your power. But if you ignore their comments you’ve taken away their power and you’ve protected yourself. Your parents may have told you, “Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me.” The only time words hurt you are when you give them permission to detract you from focusing on your success. Never give anyone the power to ruin your day or to cause you to second guess your greatness. When your detractors try to slow you down on your road to success, simply turn down the volume. It’s nothing more than background noise....
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