On a recent flight from Chicago to San Diego, I reached gold status with Alaska Airlines. This means I fly a lot. The best part is that I didn’t reach Gold after my flight ended; I reached status while flying over Salem, Oregon.
The flight attendants, Brea, Stone and Valerie decided to throw me an “in-air party.” They told the captain and he sent a special handwritten message! It said “as of now” I was an honorary gold until I officially reached status when we landed in San Diego. Then, the three flight attendants announced the exciting news over the intercom and brought me a glass of bubbly to celebrate.
People clapped and I felt like someone special. It was as if this little act of showing gratitude made me feel like I was the No. 1 customer for the whole company. There's no doubt I'll tell thousands of people about this experience. I speak all over the world about management, customer service and technology… they had no clue if I was going to tell five people or 100,000. To them providing the best service to their best customers is what matters.
This is not to say you shouldn’t take care of all your customers. This is about going above and beyond for your best customers.
So with the holidays approaching the question burns: What are you going to do to show those best customers that they matter?
Here are three simple steps that won’t break your bank:
1) Post about your best customers online and tell the world why you are excited to have them as a client. You should add something exciting about what they are doing.
Local
This can be done through a blog, newsletter, featuring them on your website, or social media. Tell the world that you are proud to be working with this client. (If you are afraid that telling people you work with a client will lead to competition, you should be sure enough in your offering that you don’t have to worry.)
2) Send them an old-fashioned handwritten thank you message that tells them how much you appreciate their business and make a donation to a charity they support.
3) Gifts always go over well. Here is a post by fellow Inc. Well contributor Jetta Bates-Vasilatos with some amazing gifts to consider.
Whatever you do… make a list of your best and treat them to something nice. You never know who they might tell.
Jabez LeBret has authored three books and is a managing partner for Get Noticed Get Found. Over the last nine years he has delivered over 700 keynote addresses in five countries. His main area of expertise is managing Gen Y in the workplace, advanced Facebook strategies, LinkedIn strategies, Google+, SEO, local directory optimization, and online marketing. He recently relocated to Chicago.
