I recently spoke to a client who asked why she wasn't rewarded with gift cards and so forth. Hmmm. It is an interesting marketing concept and a lot of retailers use this tactic. I put some thought into it and then decided to write my response here.
Here's the deal, rewards are not really rewards when it comes to services. Most of the time, clients are paying extra money for their own rewards. For example, I know one real estate provider who gives his clients a free iPad Air every time they buy a house through him. Wow, what a deal, right? Wrong.
You see, in my real estate friend's contract, he adds a $1,500 "marketing fee"- even on sales. So, essentially, his clients are buying a home, an iPad Air, and giving him a few extra hundred dollars profit. Is this really a customer reward or customer appreciate gift? No. It's a warm and fuzzy self-funded way for customers to feel good about selecting the Realtor to do his job.
Sure, I will send clients a gift-card for coffee here and there, but never out of their own contract and never as an expected gift. I believe in providing results and customer services that exceeds expectations as a real reward for my clients. It has worked, as they keep coming back.
So, today, as we hit the midweek point- ask yourself how you are really rewarding your clients. Are you buying their affection using their own money? Or are you setting the bar and then exceeding their expectations?
Until next time,
Velma Trayham of ThinkZILLA
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