5 Random Acts of Kindness for your customers
In 2016 I was doing a lot of travelling.
I seemed to be on a plane around Europe every week - Stockholm, Geneva, Milan….
In September it was time for me to fly to San Francisco for Dreamforce. 11 hours in a cramped seat - I wasn’t that excited about it.
As I queued to check my bag the attendant smiled at me,
“Thank-you for being a regular flyer with us Mr Cowan. I’m pleased to say that I’ve been able to bump you up to a business class seat today.”
“I hope you enjoy your flight.”
Result!
I beamed from ear to ear.
I floated onto the plane, found my seat and watched my colleagues continue on down towards the back of the plane.
I sat down in my spacious seat, gladly received my drink while others were still boarding the plane, took a photo, tweeted it and texted my wife.
This random act of kindness reinforced my loyalty to a brand I was already spending a lot of my time with.
How can we do random acts of kindness in SaaS?
When was the last time a technology company gave you a ‘free upgrade’ and made you feel special.
Many buyers complain that the only time they hear from their vendors is when they get the renewal contract with a 10% uplift.
We rarely give our customers something of value with no expectation of return.
Inviting your customers to:
a dinner with other customers
a sporting event with your sales team
a launch of your new product
is not a random act of kindness - it infers reciprocity.
5 ideas for random acts of kindness
These are just some ideas - they may not work for your business model.
Use them as inspiration to get your own juices flowing.
A free upgrade that has value to the customer
“Thank-you for being a valued customer of ours for the last three years. To say thanks we’ve bumped your account up from Professional Edition to Premium Edition at no extra cost. We hope you enjoy the additional features”
Make sure it is something that will be valuable to your customer - not just bait for a new product you are trying to sell.
A timely care package to your customer’s office
Sell into sales teams? How about a hamper of goodies for their sales team on the last day of the month? Some snacks, some drinks and some useful swag to wish them good luck on closing out their deals.
A dinner or event in their local area (without you)
If you see a great new restaurant or event open up near your customer’s office get a booking and provide it to them to entertain their own customers.
Taylor’s in town!!
Access to a closed network of peers
Can you provide your customer with connections to peers in their industry, facilitated by you, but without you in the room. A CHRO community, or CIO networking dinner. Paid for by you, but without you influencing the discussion.
Some useful co-branded swag
How about creating some co-branded swag with your customer’s logo along with your own.
“Thanks for being a valued customer, here are some umbrellas, rugs, charging stations, phone stands…..to say thank-you”
Give without expectation of return
These are just five ideas - take a moment to think about when you would offer these out.
Just like my upgrade to San Francisco, I was a regular traveller, and was now taking a much longer flight.
Consider just after your customer has upgraded or renewed (to remove any influence on the decision).
Provide your gift, and say nothing else.
There is no call to request anything in return. Just a random act of kindness.
I’ve not doubt your customer will share their story regardless.
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