Today, April 15, is the day that most people see as the day that nightmares are realized—tax day. The overwhelming majority of Americans wait until the last minute to get their taxes in order and get in a mad rush to make it to the post office in time.
Fortunately, mine were completed ahead of schedule and Washington has my money which also leaves my pockets (along with everyone else’s) rather empty. It’s rather sad to see. However, seeing as I’m not having to worry about whether or not I’m going to get my tax return finished in time, I get to mark today as a day for celebration. Starbucks is offering free coffee. All you have to do is take your favorite travel mug to Starbucks and they’ll fill it for free.
It really is a stroke of genius marketing, but what should the rest of us business owners take from such an example…besides the free coffee? We should be looking at what we are offering our customers and potential customers.
Customer service isn’t only about taking care of a customer when something goes wrong. We should also be reaching out to our customers and showing them our gratitude for their business with us. Give the customers a freebee every now and then to let them know that they are appreciated which will make them more likely to come back.
Those freebees are also great marketing tools for your latest and greatest product. People like taking things for a test drive before buying it; that’s why they try on clothes at the store and drive a car around the block a few times before signing on the dotted line.
Customer Service is all about catering to your customers’ needs, and it starts in your marketing and stays with them while they continue to do business with your company and even after.
So what are you offering your customers?