In any kind of relationship, you can’t expect to succeed with basic manners or grandiose gestures, yet many companies view support through those exact lenses. It’s really the steady cultivation of understanding, respect and loyalty that make all the difference between two people and between a business and its customers.
GLUE, or Giving Little Unexpected Extras, is a customer service tactic that will help you foster that sense of loyalty between you and your customers long term. GLUE entails going just a smidge above and beyond your competition to delight customers without breaking the bank. A great example of this is a small business writing handwritten thank you notes to show how much it appreciates its customers.
The seasonal uptick in sales during Black Friday Cyber Monday (BFCM) brings about an opportunity to use GLUE to increase your number of repeat customers. But the stakes are also higher during this time of year, as a poor experience during holiday shopping is sure to get you crossed off of a customer’s shopping list.
We’ll go through some new, creative ideas for adding GLUE to your business strategy so you can excel during this holiday shopping season.
Share your story over email to forge a connection
You may have a slew of clever marketing emails ready for Black Friday Cyber Monday. But have you ever taken the opportunity to tell your customers the story of why you started your business?
Offering up your honest origin story will bridge the sincerity gap between your business and your customers. If you have guiding principles for design, the way you source your materials, or your sustainability practices, you should communicate those, too.
Though this may seem like a simple way to give customers an unexpected extra, it’s also an easy way to connect with them on a personal level. Instead of speaking to customers as a business, this is your opportunity to take them for a “virtual coffee” face to face. The concept that honesty begets deeper relationships is one that’s been widely explored in the Bowen theory of psychology. And there’s no reason you can’t use that tactic in your marketing.
One of my favorite examples of this is from small business owner Sam Alter of Atlas Pet Company. The brand’s first email to customers is signed by Sam and his black lab, Atlas, because they founded the company together based on Atlas’s need for better gear.
