15 Remedies to prevent your customers feeling blue

It is that time of year. Especially in the Northern hemisphere, where it is the heart of winter. It is dark when you wake up and also when you return home from your office, the sun has set – if the sun has even shown her face at all during the day... Since most of the days it is raining, snowing or just so cloudy that you want to fly to the sun. Immediately.

This is what your customers are experiencing too. So this is the perfect time to step it up a little bit. Give your customers some extra love and attention. Because you don't have to let your customers feel even bluer than they already do. This blog gives you 15 suggestions, simple but so effective:

1. Send a birthday card to a customer who celebrates his or her birthday. Congratulate and tell them how happy you are with their relationship with your customer.
2. Buy a 25 American Dollar Kiva card of (kiva.org) and send it to a customer and share a message that you would like to pay it forward.
3. Open the door for a customer in your store. Welcome them with a genuine HELLO.
4. Look into complaints and pick one out that needs extra love and attention. Solve the problem sooner than you have promised and add your TLC to give the customer a good feeling.
5. Invite a customer for a really good cup of coffee in your favorite coffee bar. Ask them for genuine feedback and listen intently.
6. Give a customer something extra. If you work in a coffee bar, add a snack. If you work in telecom, some extra mobile data. Try to find something that you can give, which makes your customer happy.
7. Welcome a new customer with a video you have made especially for them. A genuine welcome with a big smile.
8. Drive down the country, buy a big bunch of flowers and visit a customer. Thank them for being a customer and have a cup of coffee together.
9. Dive a little deeper into the lives of your customers. Find a customer with an anniversary, buy a personal gift online and send it to them.
10. On a rainy day, bring an extra umbrella along and offer this to a customer that comes into your store soaking wet. With compliments of you and the company of course.
11. Give a compliment to your customer. Easy, but so effective.
12. Especially in business to business, find out about the interests of the customer and find one or more articles that are in line with these interests. Send the article(s) with some happy greetz.
13. Go to the logistics department, bring some small gifts along and add them to customers packages that are sent out today.
14. Find blogs that are written by your customers and leave nice comments.
15. A more indirect suggestion, but with great effect: Buy a cake for customer service colleagues and tell them how much you appreciate them. If you want to take it up a notch, join them and listen in to customer calls.

So plenty of ideas here. But I would love it if you add to this list, the more ideas the better. Because in these gloomy January days, our customers can use some of your Tender Love and Care.

Do you want to share this message? We have made a printable version that you can download. Print it and hang it where you colleagues can see it. To spread the kindness. Thank you!

 

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Nienke Bloem is often called the Customer Experience speaker in the blue dress. 

She's a global CX thought leader, educator and a global keynote speaker who inspires audiences with best practices and proven methodologies. She leads a speaking practice, a CX game company and a training business; she breathes Customer Experiences and is author of two CX books.

Her two-day Customer Experience Masterclass is known as the best program to prepare for your CCXP and she is the go-to person for CX leaders who want to advance their leadership and bring direct results from their Customer Experience transformation programs. Since 2020, she hosts a CX Leadership Masterminds program and helps leaders spice up their leadership and deliver an engaging CX Story including a solid CX Strategy. Besides, she is a modern-day pilgrim and found the parallel with leading customer centric transformations. 

With her over 20 years of corporate experience, she speaks the business language. Her keynotes and education programs in Customer Experience are inspiring and hands-on. She is one of the few Recognized Training Partners of the CXPA and it is her mission to Make Customer Experience Work and help you deliver business results.