Reward your customers

Where I live, in Cumbria, this time of year sees the beginning of the influx of thousands of people attending Appleby Horse Fair - an ancient fair where horses used to be traded by gypsies from all over the UK, including Ireland. In this modern age, far more is traded than just horses, but the horses still take a major part in the week-long event.

When a horse is sold, or sheep or cows by our local farmers, there is a practice called "luck money".

The seller returns to the buyer a small amount of money as a token of a successful sale. This may be as little as a pound, but the amount of luck money can occasionally become as hard driven a bargain as the purchase price of the animal! And the amount of luck money given by each particular vendor can influence who buys from them again in the future. You are more likely to hear how tight or how generous the luck money was, than about the purchase of the horse!

We were discussing this practice last night in the pub and saying how different that is from how the supermarkets etc treat you these days. 1p or 10p short? Put something back then. Completely inflexible and indifferent to the customer, despite all the sweet talk in the adverts.

Recently, I went into a garage where there was a small change pot by the till. It is so easy to go a few pence over when filling your car, and should you find yourself short, the money in the pot is there to help you make up the difference. Anyone with a few pennies spare change can add to it, knowing that one day they may need just such a service. And it's surprising how many people in the queue in front of me put in their coppers and undoubtedly also remember that garage for this small service.

Simply by putting that change pot on the counter shows an attitude towards your customers that is also illustrated by the luck money, whereas it is countermanded by the 'greed' of those large corporates who do not want their tills to be down by even a penny, despite posting billions of pounds of profits each year.

If you have conducted a successful transaction with a customer, why not show them that you are pleased to have done business with them by showing your appreciation for their business?

Recently I purchased some boots from Ebay and when the parcel arrived, inside it was a little cloth bag with some sweets in as a thank you. Yesterday, I received an extra surprise packet of seeds in with my gardening order, which was a great touch, It was a small gesture, but those sellers will stick in my mind for that practice. Ditto the garage, and ditto the luck money idea.

However, I felt aggrieved when a large supermarket could not be flexible over a few pennies, nor did I enjoy feeling humiliated (and skint!) at the till when I needn't have been treated like that, and have never returned there to shop again. So, the reward does not need to be much in value, it really is the thought that counts.

And in building up a base of loyal customers, treating them as people and showing you are thankful for their business can really make all the difference. And it should not be in vouchers, encouraging them to spend again with you to see any return, but something for them, like a cashback, or a small bag of sweets, or a free packet of seeds.

Customer loyalty is cheap to buy if you just take one or two steps out of the ordinary, and make yourself different from those large, unfeeling corporates who care only about the money and not about the people/customers.