Articles

Invite Customer Interactions

Jana M. Kemp

Two turkey drawings greeted me in an office building elevator recently. Intrigued, I read the detail with the pictures to discover that an accounting firm had sponsored a Thanksgiving drawing contest for children of their clients. The two winning pictures will become the firm’s holiday greeting card this year.

This customer participation contest prompted me to think back over the other approaches to encouraging customer interactions that I’ve seen in the last five years. From customer comment cards to juried art competitions, there are dozens of ways to invite your customers to interact with you in meaningful and fun new ways. Here are some ideas that might work for your company, organization, or not-for-profit.

Coloring placemats – Whether or not you hold a contest, kids and adults alike are entertained by things to color. Restaurants and doctor and dentist offices can benefit from keeping people busy while they are waiting.

Customer comment cards – Talk Back to Flying Pie! The pizza restaurant invites customers to draw a face on the comment card and turn it in to tell them how they’re doing. And leave a note about the “good stuff” and the “bad stuff” about the restaurant. Then the cards get posted in the restaurant.

Customer comment cards, second approach – invite people to respond to “how was our service” cards while they are still in your store. The cards are typically collected near the cashier stations, or can be mailed back to a customer service center.

Follow-up service surveys – Auto repair shops, the AAA, and some catalog companies mail surveys to customers after the service has been provided. Sometimes the surveys come alone, sometimes with coupons for future services, and occasionally with a token thank you gift.

Online surveys and rewards – Collecting customer preferences and shopping habits helps companies determine what services to offer, what products to develop, and how to market. Websites can be used to gather information, issue coupons and rewards, and to learn more about what your customers are thinking.

Juried art selections – This approach to involving a community and fundraising at the same time has been implemented across the country for many years by not-for-profits. Clients, customers and local artists can submit their work. Typically five to eight pieces are chosen and turned into prints that serve as greeting cards.

So the invitation question for you is: Are you extending invitations to your customers so that they and their families interact with you more – shop, do more business and tell others about you?

Action Items: Hold a staff meeting discussion about how your organization can reach out to clients and customers. The goal is to engage conversation and interaction that helps you earn customer loyalty, improve your service offerings, and increase your sales.

Reprint Permission: The author is willing to grant reprint permissions. Please contact Jana Kemp: jana@janakemp.com or call 208-367-1701.