Strengthening Customer Relationships Through Gratitude
Celebrating this past Thanksgiving gave me a chance to reflect on the importance of gratitude and the value it has in strengthening relationships. Black Friday, of course, made me think about how gratitude can strengthen relationships that brands have with their customers. If gratitude brings people closer and leads us to be more invested in our relationships, what can brands do to get closer to their customers and encourage them to be more invested in their brand?
We know that gratitude fosters emotional connections. Expressing gratitude requires the discovery and appreciation of a shared purpose. It requires active listening and sometimes reading between the lines in order to understand what is truly important to someone. It creates a common bond based on mutual understanding. Gratitude is an important foundation in building loyalty.
What does this mean for brands? Loyalty programs are a dime a dozen and customers can be quickly lost to the next brand that comes along with a better “gift.” How do we get customers to be truly connected and invested in our brand? Perhaps it’s not all that different from how we connect and bond with each other. Forbes Magazine explains that “When you lead with gratitude, you put yourself in a position of being accountable to others. When you are accountable to others, the possibility that you will rationalize potentially bad behavior or blame someone else is reduced, because you personally need to step up and take responsibility. That accountability, and the respect and consistency that follow from it is what keeps your customers loyal.”
There are many different ways for a brand to show gratitude. Krispy Kreme used World Gratitude Day (Sept 21st) and turned it into gratitude week, offering free gift wrapping of a dozen donuts, decorative box and all, delivered to the door of those we wanted to thank. And to truly show their gratitude, Krispy Kreme also gave a free Original Glazed dozen to the sender. I didn’t even know World Gratitude Day existed. Kudos to Krispy Kreme!
Other examples of ways to show gratitude include hand-written notes, using social media to say thank you and volunteering of time or donating to social causes that are meaningful to customers. Taco Bell and Chewy are both known for sending out personal, hand-written cards to their customers. Chipotle gave out 250,000 free burritos to heath care workers in 2021. Patagonia, true to their purpose, turned Black Friday into Green Friday by donating 100% of profits from Black Friday to hundreds of environmental organizations around the world. Brands that give back through charitable initiatives create a common mission with their buyers. Research shows that this can often be a deciding factor in purchasing. A key element is to be engaged in active and genuine listening so as to ensure that the message or gesture remains relevant.
According to Zig Zigler, "Gratitude is the healthiest of all human emotions. The more you express gratitude for what you have, the more likely you will have even more to express gratitude for." Perhaps this is true for brands as well. What do you think? Let’s keep the conversation going either on LinkedIn or via email: celia@seekcompany.com.