The Holidays Are AImost Here...

The Holidays Are a Great Time To Say "Thank You"

Year round your customers keep your business running, your employees paid, and your livelihood going. They are the ones whose patronage puts food on the table, gets the bills paid, and puts gas in your tank. Yet, surprisingly, many companies never really say "Thank You" to their valued clients.

A startlingly large amount of businesses put huge amounts of advertising and marketing dollars into finding new customers, but ignore the customers they already have. Your current customer base IS your business. While it is important to plan for the future, don't forget the customers you already have a relationship with. Depending on your type of business, one single customer can be worth a lot over their lifetime, so it goes without saying that customer retention is essential. Dollars and cents aside, it is always a good idea to nurture relationships with valued clients, since you work with them year round.

Showing your appreciation for a client during the holiday season doesn't have to be super expensive. The key is to make your gift thoughtful and something they will appreciate. Cheese and candy trays are great, because they usually go home to the family to enjoy, or end up a tasty office treat to be shared by many people. Calendars are a great and utilitarian year-round reminder of your appreciation. Even a well, written, personalized greeting card can express thanks if your holiday budget is tight. Whatever you give, the important thing is to let them know that you are thinking of them, and that they are an "A" customer in your book.

Another thing to consider when brainstorming Holiday gift ideas is longevity. When you give a gift to show your appreciation to a customer, you want it to last. Gifts like gift cards, cash, or coupons, get spent quickly, and mot often not on things that will provide lasting memories. They often get spent on utilitarian things that provide no sentimental value. Leave a lasting impression on your customer is essential, and your gift should fulfill that need.

If you want to nurture and build your customer relationships this holiday season, Powertex can help. Our knowledgeable and helpful sales representatives can help you design a program to fit your budget. Give us a call today at (800) 588-7111, or email us at customerservice@powertexgroup.com.

One of our sales reps related to me this story, which I feel is a small, but compelling example of exactly why promotional items have their place in marketing:

"A client who is a sales rep had some of those new click-pen sharpies printed with her name and phone number just before going to a large local business convention. There she met lots of people, and to each one she handed out a business card, and a custom imprinted sharpie. Her investment was so minimal that 1 or 2 orders would pay for the sharpies.

She gave away a lot of sharpies that day, and made several contacts. Her most interesting success, however came 3-4 weeks later, when she got a call from another person whom she had met at the convention. That person wanted to place a first-time order. The new client had to email the sales rep some information, and when the sales rep said, "Okay, you can just send it to the email address on the business card I gave you at the convention. You still have the business card, right?" The client replied that they had lost the business card, and all they had for contact information was the phone number off the sharpie they had gotten."

This is a perfect example of how you can use promotional marketing to grow your business. In this case, the client kept the marker, presumably because a marker had more intrinsic value to that person than a normal old business card. The sales rep made a sale, opened up a whole new market for herself, and began a new relationship that, over its lifetime, could have a value far above that of the original investment.