That Batsh*t Things Unappreciated People Will Do…

Here’s a story for your don’t-try-this-at-home file…

Last year, a guy in Belgium faked his death and then showed up at his funeral to teach his family a lesson.

As mourners gathered and waited for the outdoor ceremony to begin, a helicopter landed nearby. I’m-Not-Really-Dead Guy hopped from the copter with a camera crew behind him and yelled, ““Cheers to you all. Welcome to my funeral.”

His explanation for the stunt: “What I see in my family often hurts me, I never get invited to anything. Nobody sees me. We all grew apart. I felt unappreciated,” That’s why I wanted to give them a life lesson.”

I’m not condoning what this guy did. Faking your own funeral to teach people a lesson is batsh*t crazy.

But I get the sentiment…

“I felt unappreciated.”

Not something you want to hear from a loved one.

Not something you want to hear from a client you value.

Clients break up with businesses for various reasons. A vast majority of them will bolt when they feel unappreciated. Countless studies prove this.

After “unappreciated” customers break up with a business, most say they were satisfied with the product or service.

In other words, you can deliver great products or services but still see clients flee — if you don’t make them feel appreciated.

In fact, many will forgive a service hiccup or tolerate a slightly inferior product – as long as they feel appreciated.

So…

Do you have strategies and tactics to demonstrate your appreciation for clients?

Here are some tips to guide your customer appreciation plan:

1. Stay in touch with direct communication — not just social posts. One-to-one channels like email and print newsletters. Silence screams indifference. Commit to more sending, less silence.

2. Educate and entertain. If all you do is pitch products, your customers will feel like cogs in a transactional machine, not appreciated member of a family. When you educate and entertain, you build bonds. You strengthen relationships.

3. Be interactive. Encourage people to reply to your emails and posts. Encourage them to share their thoughts on your social media pages, in online surveys, in comments on your blog. Answer their questions. Thank them for praise. Thank them for constructive criticism. Show them you’re listening. Appreciate their feedback, and they’ll appreciate you.

4. Send gifts. In this week’s RecomMONDAYtions email, I said, “One of my smartest business moves over the last couple of years: Implementing GiftHopper.”

I use GiftHopper to deliver thank you gifts to clients, partners, and other key business associates. I give GiftHopper the list of gift recipients and the gift I wish to deliver. They do the rest.

Show your clients more appreciation.

You will not be invited to a fake funeral.

You will increase client retention and profits.