Create client loyalty; follow man’s best friend’s lead
August 26, 2022When it comes to welcoming and celebrating others, can you think of anyone who does it better than adorable fur babies? Their sheer excitement at our mere sight boosts our confidence immensely! How can we not love pets so in love with us?
While it is in their nature, of course, to be so loving, their investment in us reaps rewards. We spoil them with treats and toys, we give them their own beds and then share our own, we pet, stroke, and give oodles and oodles of smooches. Their enthusiasm pays off; when it comes to marketing, we would do well to follow their lead.
What can we learn about marketing from our furry pals?
You don’t need to literally pat clients on their heads, and giving them smooches would be serious no-no’s. You should absolutely show them you’re happy to see them, though. You’ll be building and maintaining the kind of long-term relationships that helps practices flourish.
Everyone, e-v-e-r-y-o-n-e, wants to know they are valued and appreciated, including your clients. So let’s take a cue from our animal friends. Here’s how you can spread the love and receive it to:
- Wag and wiggle. Show your interest and excitement when you meet new clients. Don’t drool or anything but do keep plenty of welcome cards on hand to immediately follow up. Capitalize on those initial impressions made during office visits too. Send personalized messages and signatures on thank you cards.
- Smile from ear to ear and promote good will. Mail thank you cards to clients and colleagues to express your gratitude for their referrals and any and all of their kindnesses.
- Snuggle up. Again, not literally, but do get to know your clients. Find out when their birthdays are and send birthday cards. And don’t forget to send them to your four-legged patients! Clients will love that you want to celebrate their fur babies.
Client loyalty is built on the big stuff – providing professional, skilled care and pleasant customer service, and the small stuff too – acknowledgments, appreciation, and celebration. Take these small extra steps and see how your own dedication, faithfulness and loyalty is rewarded.
Impacting lives with ArtAbilities
Barb Kessler loves to tell the story of seeing a sparkle in the eyes of one of our contributing artists.
“When she heard one of her pieces had been placed behind a buyer’s office desk, her eyes lit up,” she says with a gleam of her own.
The artist’s painting had sold at an annual art auction held yearly to help support a very unique art program that MBS Communications holds dear. In 2013, MBS partnered with the art program to create ArtAbiliites, our exclusive line of sympathy, note cards, and reminder cards. ArtAbilities recognizes and celebrates the work of the amazing artists at Community Support Systems. The agency serves individuals with disabilities in a community that neighbors MBS’s hometown.
Passion, Impact, and Growth
Kessler, the Community Day Services Coordinator at CSS, is passionate about the program because of the impact it has on the participants.
Currently, there are 42 participants with 4 or 5 soon to be added. Each participant receives approximately 45 minutes of instruction per session. Art instructors Karen Weber and Jan VonBokel assist by sketching out subject matter chosen by participants, mixing paints, and providing physical assistance if needed.
Painting sessions are held twice weekly with approximately eight participants at a session. Weber and VonBokel alternate between instruction time.
VonBokel is just as passionate about the art classes, so much so that she does not mind her 1 hour and 20-minute commute to work! She loves the positive energy she feels at CSS.
Creative Outlet
She says the art class is therapy for the participants, an outlet, and a means for them to develop their creative skills. Those skills go beyond the classroom walls, she says, to have a positive impact on the daily life of each participant.
And for Weber, seeing how painting is relaxing and enjoyable for participants has taught her that it is about the process, not the end product.
Kessler is proud to say that the art program is now self-sufficient thanks in part to the annual auction, and to the portion of ArtAbilities card sales proceeds that MBS donates thanks to our customers’ support.
CSS just observed its 60th anniversary this summer with its annual art auction, food, and music to celebrate the occasion. More than 40 pieces of CSS participants’ art were auctioned off for a record-breaking profit.
When we first introduced the ArtAbilities line nearly 10 years ago, we thought this quote from Impressionist Edgar Degas was a perfect introduction:
“Art is not what you see, but what you make others see.”
Helping others see the talent of the artists in CSS’s art program has been a great honor for us. We sincerely thank all our customers who’ve purchased ArtAbilities cards. Don’t miss out on these beautiful cards; look now at this very unique and wonderful line.
