When you’re running a home improvement business, thanking your customers is a top priority. After all, these homeowners are spending thousands of their hard-earned dollars with you, so you want to show them your appreciation.
Not only does it feel good – giving your customers a gift also benefits your bottom line. This can be traced back to Robert Cialdini’s first principle of persuasion: Reciprocity. When people are given a gift, they feel they owe the gift giver. That’s why gift recipients are more likely to leave you a coveted 5-star review and refer you to their family, friends and neighbors!
So what could you possibly give your clients to say “thank you”?
We’re here to help you! With over 15 years of experience helping home improvement businesses say “thank you” in a way that helps them grow their business on autopilot, gFour Marketing knows how to show customer appreciation.
Keep reading for 20 customer gift ideas you could put into practice today. And if you’d like to find out more about gFour’s ability to handle your customer gifting for you, book a free appointment here
This is a personal favorite from the gFour Marketing team, as it’s the gift we’ve helped our home improvement business clients give to their customers for over a decade. Food always brings people together, and tasty treats are a great way for the whole family to enjoy your gift while having a “sweet” conversation about your company at the same time. Additionally, they have a long shelf life and could stay on a customer’s counter for weeks while maintaining freshness.
Let Us Sweeten The Pot For Your Customers
One of the benefits of customer gifting is customer loyalty. As you may know, it easily costs five times more to get a new customer than to keep an old one. That’s why you may want to consider including a customer gift card for future services in your “thank you” gift to your customers. Bonus Tip: The more you can make this voucher look and feel like a “real” gift card, the more likely you are to turn this one-time customer into profitable repeat business.
One way to ensure that your customers keep coming back to you and bring their friends, neighbors and relatives with them, is to introduce a customer loyalty program to them as part of their appreciation gift. If a customer is thrilled with your services, turn that passion into action! Give them the opportunity to earn cash rewards, get entered into sweepstakes and earn prizes for using your business repeatedly and for referring new customers to you.
Sent alone or with a gift box, you can’t go wrong with a handwritten thank you note. The nostalgia of receiving a thank you note in the mail will stand head and shoulders above all of the digital messages customers receive these days.
A great way to deliver appreciation and health to your customers could be with a colorful fruit basket. This not only shows your thanks, but also your concern for their wellbeing. (But you will want to be mindful of what’s in season and the shelf life of various produce to ensure your customers don’t end up with a basket of rotten fruit at their doorstep!)
Whether you’ve done a roof or window replacement for the customer or remodeled their bath or kitchen, you may have a freebie related to the project that the customer will appreciate. For instance, if you are a window replacement contractor, a free set of blinds, window coverings or window hardware to accent their new project makes for a great client gift idea.
One of the keys to nurturing client relationships and boosting brand awareness is to make sure your customers never forget about you. A great way to do that is with branded merchandise. This could be a mug with your logo on it, a water bottle, a bag, or even a t-shirt. At gFour, we accomplish this by branding the keepsake jar in which your fresh cookies are placed and sent to your customers. It’s a crafty way to show appreciation and keep your logo in the home in a friendly and helpful way.
A creative way to connect with your customers could be to make a gift basket of local products. In your area, you could potentially go to the local farmers market to to gift agricultural products such as honey, jams or jellies. You could even give gift cards to local restaurants. Put it all together in a gift basket, and you’ll be reminding your customers how connected you are to your local community and that they are supporting local when they choose to do business with you.
Some home improvement companies choose to send greetings to their customers on special occasions such as birthdays or holidays. This thoughtful gift can keep you in front of your customers when they least expect it and help to create those “WOW” moments. You could even send a special greeting on the anniversary of the completion project. For example, you could send your customers a card on the one-year completion of their project. (That’s something that gFour can help you with!)
Included in your gift to customers could be a complimentary consultation on the client’s next project. That way, you can go ahead and set their mind in motion, thinking about the future. You could even give them the opportunity to pass that gift along to a friend or family member. Doing so could result in your next big referral!
Your customer is a homeowner who obviously values their home. This is why educational resources related to home maintenance could be the perfect gift to give them. You could select home maintenance and improvement materials from other authors or organizations that you endorse. Or, you could even create your own book, guide, brochure or e-book and share that with your customers. That way, your customers will be even more informed, they’ll see you as an authority, and they’ll trust you with their business moving forward.
For high earners, charities and social causes can be a top priority. Your customers may appreciate a gift given to a charity in their name. You could even make your partnership with a particular charity part of your marketing. You will want to consult a tax professional to ensure all donations are properly accounted for.
As human beings, we are wired to desire what is not easily obtainable. This is why your customers could appreciate being given exclusive access or a sneak peek for upcoming products or service offerings. For instance, if you are debuting plumbing maintenance programs next year, you could go ahead and “gift” those services to current customers. They’ll feel special for getting early access, and it gives you the opportunity to soft-launch your services on a warm, friendly audience.
What better way to say “thank you” than with some old-fashioned hospitality? You can invite your customers to an appreciation event that could be held at your location or at a restaurant or banquet facility in your area. This way, your customers can truly get to know you outside of their home and possibly introduce you to friends of theirs.
While most home improvement companies thank their customer right away, you may choose to wait until the end of the year to show appreciation to your customers. This could take the shape of a holiday gift basket or a holiday-themed dessert. By going this route, you are sure to be top of mind with your customers as they wrap up the year and start making all of their big plans for the following year. You could also be the subject of dinner discussions with family and friends if one of your holiday gifts is a ham, turkey, or cake that sits at the center of the table–talk about brand awareness!
We love personalized gifts for that extra touch.
If you want your customer glancing at your branding on a daily basis, a personalized calendar could be the solution you’re looking for. You could have professional photography taken of local landmarks, place them on the different months, and then add your branding to each page. Incorporate your company’s value proposition by adding suggested service or maintenance dates already printed on the calendar for a special touch.
Another daily tool is a custom-branded notebook or journal. Sitting on the kitchen table, your customer’s desk or magnetized to the refrigerator – all are great ways to stay front and center with your customers.
Looking for more creative client gifts? Plants are a gift that could last a lifetime (depending on whether your customer has a green thumb or not!). They add life to your customer’s home, and are a constant reminder of how your company upgraded their living space.
Since we all have plenty of stuff these days, consider gifting your customers an experience they’ll never forget. This could be a restaurant gift certificate, tickets to a game, or a voucher for a spa or a cooking class. Whenever they think of their memory at that experience, they’ll remember your thoughtful gift and pay you back with client loyalty that’s invaluable to your bottom line.
Similar to a customer appreciation event, you could actually piggyback on another event and use it as a gift to your loyal customers. For instance, you could sponsor a VIP section at either a local sporting event or a food and wine festival. Invite your clients, and show the community how much your customers mean to you.
How to Choose the Right Customer Appreciation Gift
With so many client gift ideas available, it can be difficult to choose the one that’s right for you. In over a decade of experience doing this for hundreds of home improvement companies, the gFour Marketing Team can share these lessons learned about sending “thank you” gifts to customers:
Why Customer Appreciation Gifts Matter
No matter the route you choose for your customer appreciation gifting program, it’s an essential part of growing your business.
In order to scale, you must use your most valuable asset – your customers! With lead costs skyrocketing, it’s never been more important to maximize the value of every customer.
With a consistent customer gifting program that runs like clockwork the way that gFour Marketing does for their home improvement clients, you’ll turn more of your customers into 5-star reviews, repeat business and referrals. These outcomes keep customer acquisition costs low so that you have more profit in your home improvement business.
Get Started
Now that you have plenty of gift ideas and understand the value of expressing appreciation to your current customers, it’s time for you to get started on your own customer appreciation program.
As mentioned, consistency is key. You don’t want one customer to receive a $10 gift and another to receive a carefully crafted $100 gift. You also don’t want someone to get a gift one week after completion, another customer to get one six weeks after completion, and another customer to not get one at all.
You’re also going to want to select a designated employee to carry these tasks out for you so that there is dedicated time and ownership of getting this done. Lastly, make sure you have the space in your company location and all of the materials and equipment to get this done.
It can seem like a laborious task, but the returns are there! If you’d like to find out more about how gFour Marketing takes this off the plate of hundreds of home improvement contractors, let us know. You could be just weeks away from a turn-key, customized customer appreciation program that systematically creates more 5-star reviews, repeat business, referrals and profits!
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