It’s that time of the year when you might be starting to think about Teacher Presents. A chocolate box or bottle of wine and a homemade card. Someway to express your thanks to your child’s teacher for all their hard work over the last year. But how often do you say thank you or praise someone in your small business network? Or a service you have received? How often do you remember to say thank you? Or show your appreciation? Why are we so quick to make sure everyone knows about something we don’t like but less quick to shout good service from the rooftops?
It’s not rocket science. There are so many ways in which you can tell a Small Business Owner you appreciate them, the work they did, the service you received, a product you purchased and most of them are totally FREE.
6 Ways To Thank A Small Business :
- Leave a Review : Reviews play a big role in building a brand, developing credibility and loyalty, customer service but also for SEO (search engine optimisation). Reviews provide your customers with a voice and allowing them to express it increases customer engagement/interaction aswell as loyalty. Both Facebook and Google favour businesses with reviews, although Facebook calls their’s recommendations. Also, look out for whether a website has a review/testimonial page *cough* like mine as 93% of customers suggest their buying decisions are influenced by online reviews. According to MOZ’s Local Search Ranking Factors Survey (2018), online reviews could make up 10% of how Google (plus other search engines) rank search results.
- Word of Mouth : TELL people. When they ask; where did you get this cake? Or I like your hair. Suggest places to them, have you tried ….. It’s not a secret!
- Social Media : Invite your friends to like their Facebook Small Business Page, follow them on Twitter, suggest they connect on LinkedIn. You could share the small businesses Facebook posts onto your personal profile or on Instagram, “regram” a post with a lovely comment or do something similar with one of their Stories. Helping a small business to grow/share their social media and community is one of the biggest, easiest and let’s face it FREE but yet most effective ways to say thank you.
- Recommendations : Facebook Community groups can be a hive of potential customers asking for recommendations and most small business owners I spoke to said that hearing from a new customer that somebody suggested them is the nicest feeling in the world. You can’t buy that kind of love.
- Random Acts of Kindness : Sage UK always do this and it pretty much makes my day! From a gift voucher to a branded business card holder, these unexpected gifts make me feel like a valued member of their community. When in reality all I really did was share some content and maybe offer an opinion on something.
- Send a Card : I recently got the “Top Fan” feature on my Facebook Business Page and have been posting Thank You cards. I love having the chance to doodle and putting a smile on people’s faces. It’s a nice way to make your clients/customers/readers feel like valued members of your business community, being as I write for Small Business all of my “Top Fans” are other small business owners who can sometimes get neglected in the Thanks department.
Next time you experience a great product/service or a small business blogger helps you out take the time to say “Thank You” using my 6 ways to thank a small business. If you have experienced any of the above or have other ideas do let me know!
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Found this useful wondering how you can show me your appreciation? Well, there are some ways you can say thanks and support my website: ➡