I recently purchased a spice rub online directly from the manufacturer. You may have heard of it: Bad Byron’s Butt Rub. I regularly use this rub and usually purchase it from a local meat market. During the Covid lockdown I went out as little as possible and purchased online when I could. When I received my package from Bad Byron, in addition to the blend, also in the package was a notepad with the company’s logo, a branded koozie, a hand-written thank you as well as a pamphlet with recipes for the rub. WOW. I made a point of showing the entire package to my husband and told him, “This company knows how to thank and keep its customers.”

That is a perfect example of WOW marketing.

WOW marketing is going above and beyond the basics to make your customer feel special and valued. Even before Covid, I purchased many items online and now even more. Most packages come with a packing slip and the product. And that’s it. And I don’t expect more than that. So when I received Bad Byron’s Butt Rub with all of the goodies, I felt valued and appreciated. And I can guarantee you I won’t forget it.

Even if you don’t sell your product or service online, you can still wow your customers and your prospects. Sending out your own care package filled with small branded items is a great start. Some companies create a marketing calendar to wow their customers on a monthly or quarterly basis.

A great start is to send a thank you to current customers and, moving forward, create a system to do this with all new customers. Here are a few thought starters to send:

  1. Thank you gift with branded (your logo) post-it notes and a pen, along with a hand-written note that says: “Thank you for your continued business. We appreciate you and wanted to let you know that you are noteworthy to us!”
  2. Set of “Sharpie pens” (preferably with your logo) with a note that “we are appreciate you and wanted you to know that we think you’re a “sharpie” for using us!”
  3. Tin of cookies for Valentine’s Day with the message: We love our customers, especially you!
  4. In the spring, why not send a packet of wildflower seeds with a hand-written note: “In the garden of our customers, you are a rose.”
  5. A coffee mug along with a gift card for a local coffee shop with a note: “Maybe our next Zoom meeting can be over coffee.”

Your type of business will determine the best way to WOW your customers. If you don’t have the budget to send one to each customer, then stagger the customers who get WOWED.

This also works great for prospects. If you’re having trouble getting through to a decision maker, do some research and figure out who the gatekeeper is. Send that person a coffee mug along with a gift card and, of course, a hand-written note. Then, in a few days, call and introduce yourself and ask if they’ve had a chance to enjoy that cup of coffee yet. Tell them you are the person who sent it. You’ve upped your chances of getting through to the decision maker.

Good luck with wowing your customers and prospects. Here’s to increased sales and profits because you took the time to WOW someone.