SmallBizResource Blog -- Marketing

Spread Good Tidings

Posted by Judy Mottl Monday, Dec 10, 2007, 03:09 PM ET

It's the season to be merry and jolly and giving and that means gifting loyal customers. Just don't be cheesy about it.

No one needs another refrigerator magnet with your logo, or even those tiny calendars that you can't fit more than three words in a day box (those nicer larger calendars are good idea).

A nice 20% off coupon, or even, GASP!, a FREE decent service can go a long, long way to cementing customer loyalty into the New Year.

As a Newsday business article points out, a good gift gesture can make quite the holiday impression:

"The holidays are an excellent time of year to reinforce the fact that your business cares about the individual," says Jack Mandel, a marketing consultant and professor of marketing at Nassau Community College in Garden City. "It's a time to reach out and show your appreciation."

But don't blow the chance to make good with something that hits the trash can two seconds after they open it. Useful items are welcome items:

Mandel says you could mail thank-you notes to loyal customers with some sort of tip sheet or laminated tip card. An accountant, for instance, might send one that highlights some of the top tax law changes in the new year.

As one business expert states in the article:

"It's far easier to keep a customer than it is to get a new customer," explains Barbara Findlay Schenck, a Portland, Ore.-based business consultant and author of "Small Business Marketing for Dummies."

Marketing