Customer Appreciation Days, how NOT to do it.
By Reed Sawyer

Are you spending all of your advertising dollars trying to get new customers?

STOP!

The most profitable method of advertising is NOT going after new customers, but to go after existing customers.  One of the best ways to do that, is to have Customer Appreciation Days.

Here's how NOT to do it!
1)  Don't Give out freebies!  Your goal is to train and condition your customers to be spending MORE money at your store, not to expect freebies.  If you have free food and drinks because it is a special occasion, that is an exception, but it's not the goal.  Reward customers for spending MORE money, do not encourage them to expect freebies.

2)  Don't Give them coupons or discounts on big ticket items with small profit margins. Instead, you want to train your customers to come to your store or business and buy on a regular basis.  You do not want to have them only come to your store for big ticket items...when they get a discount.  Instead, give them discounts and coupons on high profit margin items that they will use or consume regularly.  (If they only come to your business to buy one item, they are not very valuable as a customer.  If they are trained and conditioned to come to your store on a regular basis, they are very valuable.)

3)  Don't make it special.  Instead, If you are having a new product, or new service, announce it to your customers with a special email blast  (You do always attempt to get your customers on an email list, and send them special notices and bulletins every month, don't you?)

4)  Don't Attract them with low prices.  Instead, have added value.  If you are going to be selling an item or services that could possibly be used in different ways, or need training to maximize the utility, have seminars or workshops that show the customers how to maximize the utility of that product or services.  If a person spends $5,000 on an embroidery machine, imagine having workshops on how to USE that embroidery machine.  Have meetings for embroidery clubs, there at your shop, or vendor sponsored workshops to show people how to do even more with what they already have.  If you offer a product, can you offer support products for sale at these workshops?  Can you offer software for sale?  Can you offer advanced training?  Can you offer supplementary services for sale to transform a product into something more?

5) Don't  Have them buy only one thing, at a marked down price.  Instead, have them bundle.  If they buy three, they get the fourth for free.  Your goal is to train them and condition them to think of buying more and getting bigger savings, rather than just buying one item.

6)  Don't know your customers.  Instead, try to get to know them, find out what they want, and make them feel that they are part of a community.  Thank them for their business, and mean it.  Tell them that they are part of your business family, and mean it.  Tell them how much you appreciate them, and mean it.  People are very cautious about how they spend their money, and they want to be appreciated.

7) Don't have Customer of the Week, and Customer of the Month days. Instead, make it a part of the shopping experience.  I worked with a company that had a large fishbowl in the front.  Every time that a customer bought something, they were encouraged to put their contact information into the fishbowl.  Once a week we would have a drawing.  The winner would get their picture taken, have the picture placed in a gorgeous frame that was visible at the front of the store, and get a gift.  We incentivized them to be a part of our contact list, and we sent out periodic emails (no more than once a week) telling people who had won the customer of the month, and, oh, by the way, here is a special upcoming promotion that you might be interested in.

8)  Don't have repeat purchase cards.  Instead, have valued customer cards.  Every time that they make a purchase, they get their card punched, and after 10 purchases, they get a free item.  Why would you do that?  You are conditioning and training them to come back time and time again.  If you also get to know them, and give them periodic discounts, that is a huge plus.  You have conditioned them that they get a known reward for coming back, and they get surprise rewards, every now and then, just by coming back.  You are conditioning them to be a great customer.

9)  Don't .Give out Christmas cards at Christmas.  Every business does that.  Instead, choose four other holidays, throughout the year, (other than around Christmas), and send them cards at that time, or invite them for a special, after-hours shopping spree at ridiculously low prices...for that night only.  You might even have free babysitting for an hour.  (Pizza and a couple of teenagers to babysit, while the parents shop, and you have a tv and dvd playing kids movies.  Make it a date night, so the parent can shop, while the adults buy stuff.)  In fact, that might be a great Friday night tradition.  If you make it easy for the adults to shop, they will want to make it part of their weekly routine.  Make it fun, and make it enjoyable.

10) Don't pay attention to your costs.  Instead, know your expenses, and what you can afford to do.  Your goal isn't to have a large profit margin, and no volume, but to have a massive volume, and a respectable profit margin.  The larger your volume, the lower the percentage of revenue that your fixed costs become.  In other words, it becomes cheaper to operate at a higher volume, than at a lower volume.

Summary:  A Customer Appreciation Day can be a great way to build a valuable relationship with your customers, or it can be a complete waste of money.  Make it work for you.