You recognize your employees, how about your clients?

The perks of recognizing your employees are no secret. It's well known that employee recognition programs increase retention, performance, and loyalty. The assurance that their contribution to your business is appreciated can be a powerful thing. The question is, will recognition work the same way with your clients? The answer is yes!

The thing is that recognition appeals to the human side of your employees. It will work just as well on your clients. Improving retention, performance, and loyalty. This is a great achievement, considering that returning clients are more profitable than new ones. That's why you should implement a client recognition program. 

Why you should recognize your clients?

Improving retention rates is at the top of the list. Showing your client's how much you appreciate them will give extra value to your products and services. Your clients won't be simply filling a need anymore, they'll be doing something important in the process. The extra incentive will make them less likely to move on. 

There's more, recognition also improves performance. When you're talking about clients "performance" means purchases. That's right, your client recognition programs will work as an excellent marketing campaign. An excellent way to remind clients that you're there, plus, no need to be subtle about it.

Let's talk about loyalty. The thing is, that loyalty cuts both ways. Implementing such a program will make customers less likely to accept other brands. Now, if your competitors start their client recognition program before you do it will mean trouble. It will be your brand having a harder time with acceptance. Better to strike first.

How to go about it

Now that the reasons for client recognition are clear, let's talk strategy. Good news, if you already have an employee recognition program it will be easy. There are many ways to go about it. A classic way is offering loyalty discounts. That brings back memories of punch cards. Which sadly means it's a little played out. You should still include it, everybody likes a discount. 

It's better to get creative. An interesting way is to lean into the similarities to the employee recognition programs. The client that buys the most get's the nicest price. It might seem like a silly encouragement to actually buy more, but it helps. Plus, it will certainly make your biggest client happy. 

You can go all in, host an award ceremony for your clients. Mixing the "performance" awards with other prices will make everyone more engaged. It's not likely that they forget your brand after something like that. You could even add a few "funny" awards to lighten everyone's mood. Just make sure you choose the right awards. 

Not ready to commit all those resources? No problem. You can test client recognition out virtually for free. Using your blog and social media channels you can show your clients appreciation on a budget. It will hardly have the same impact. But, it's a great way to check how well it works with your audience.

Remember that these are just general ideas, there are so many ways to show appreciation and creativity is important. Hopefully, these ideas will inspire to implement the client recognition program that is right for your business. Now, if after implementing the program you need inspiration choosing the right awards you're welcome to take our virtual tour. Get the entire experience of your gallery from the comfort of your office.