With Valentine’s Day not too far away, I thought it was appropriate to discuss how to make customers fall in love with your business.

Smitten customers are every company’s dream because they generally tell everyone they know about how good you are.

Keep reading to discover five simple tips to put a spring in the step of your customers.

Tip#1 – Do Something Special

So many online businesses fall into the trap of becoming just like their competitors. Life would be pretty dull if nobody dared to be different.

Online business is a bit like Valentine’s Day – if you put the effort into doing something special, it will make you stand out and be appreciated.

I’m not about to give out advice on how to be romantic. When it comes to business, that something special could be a unique discount code, a free gift or a simple thank you card in the post – basically anything your competitors aren’t doing or haven’t done before.

Tip #2 – Keep Your Promises

Imagine promising to take your partner out on Valentine’s Day to an expensive local restaurant and then telling them at the last minute you’d cancelled the meal. They wouldn’t be best pleased and the same principle applies to business.

When you tell a customer one thing and do another, you can’t expect them to be happy about it.

Tip #3 – Use the Element of Surprise

People love nice surprises. Handing out something to a valued customer may cost you financially, but imagine the positive impact it will have. Getting a surprise gift in the post for example will more than likely result in some great word-of-mouth advertising for your business.

Tip #4 – Don’t Expect Anything in Return

I see a lot of company promotions both online and offline and many want something in return. For example, give us a testimonial and we’ll give you 10% off your next order, or give us all your contact details and we’ll enter you into a great prize draw.

The best way to woo your customers and get repeat business is to give something and not expect anything in return – a bit like a secret Valentine’s gift!

Tip #5 – Keep the Mood Going

A one-off show of emotion is one thing, but like a personal relationship, your relationship with your customers needs to be worked on all year round.

A show of thanks or free gift just once will be welcomed but probably soon forgotten about if you don’t carry on in the same vein and look after your customers.

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Image credit: plattmunk

This entry was posted on Tuesday, January 29th, 2013 at 11:57 am and is filed under General. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.