How to make customers feel valued without spending a fortune

This article has been published as part of an advertising collaboration

Getting somebody to buy from your small business once is only part of the job. If you sell something they may need again, whether you're running a café, dog-grooming business, online shop or working for yourself as a tradesperson, you also want them to remember you when that need comes around again.

Learning how to make customers feel valued doesn't necessarily mean spending more on advertising, offering constant discounts or sending out freebies with every order. Some of the most useful ideas cost very little because they're based on remembering what customers need, making their experience easier and giving them a reason to choose you again.

Small touches can give customers a reason to come back

Before spending money on marketing, think about what you actually want somebody to remember about your business. It could be that you're particularly helpful, that you explain things without jargon, that orders arrive beautifully presented or simply that customers know you'll turn up when you say you will.

That gives you something much more useful to work with than trying to make every part of your business memorable. A bookkeeper who wants clients to remember them as organised and easy to understand needs a very different approach from a children's entertainer whose business needs to feel colourful and fun, but both can build those qualities into everything from emails to packaging.

Consistency is important here because a promotional gift can't rescue a poor customer experience. If somebody has spent three days chasing you for a reply, receiving a branded pen probably isn't going to be the part of the transaction they remember.

How can you make customers feel valued for free?

One of the cheapest things a small business can do is remember useful information. If you have regular customers, keeping appropriate notes about their preferences can make their next interaction much easier, provided you're handling any personal information properly and complying with your data-protection obligations.

A hairdresser might record how a regular customer likes their hair cut, while a dog groomer could keep notes about a pet's usual treatment. If you sell products online, even remembering that somebody is a returning customer and thanking them for ordering again can feel considerably more personal than treating every transaction as if you've never dealt with them before.

Good communication costs very little too. Telling a customer when their order has been dispatched, letting them know promptly if something has gone wrong and replying like a human rather than sending an unnecessarily corporate response can all contribute to how they remember your business.

Make packaging useful rather than simply prettier

If you sell physical products, packaging gives you an opportunity to add something useful without spending heavily on elaborate boxes and wrapping. Before adding anything, though, ask whether it improves the customer's experience or whether you're effectively paying to put something else in their recycling bin.

A candle maker could include instructions explaining how to look after the candle and get a better burn, while a bakery selling products for customers to eat later could provide storage or reheating instructions. A florist could add a small care card explaining how to help the flowers last longer.

Those extras have a purpose beyond advertising your business. They're helping somebody get more from something they've already paid for, which is a much better starting point than automatically adding a generic promotional leaflet to every order.

Follow up when you've got something useful to say

It's easy for customer retention to turn into sending people more marketing emails. That can have the opposite effect if every message is essentially another attempt to sell them something.

Think instead about whether there's a natural reason to get back in touch. A garage could send customers an appropriate reminder when their next MOT or service is approaching, while somebody who maintains gardens could remind customers about seasonal work they may need to consider.

The same principle applies immediately after a purchase. If customers regularly ask the same question after buying from you, answering it automatically in a follow-up email could save them time and reduce the number of enquiries you have to deal with as well.

Any marketing by email, text or similar channels needs to comply with the relevant UK privacy and electronic marketing rules. Don't assume that somebody buying from you once automatically gives you unrestricted permission to market to them afterwards.

Spending money isn’t automatically the answer either. If you’re still building your business, my guide to starting a business on a budget looks at where it may make sense to save money and where spending a little more could be worthwhile.

Could branded merchandise be worth the money?

Branded merchandise can keep your business in front of customers, but buying something simply because you can print your logo on it isn’t a particularly good use of a tight budget. The better question is whether the person receiving it is genuinely likely to use it.

Before placing an order, compare prices and check whether there are any other ways to reduce the cost. Businesses can sometimes earn cashback on purchases too, depending on the retailer, cashback service and its terms, so it’s worth understanding how cashback works and checking what’s available before you buy. Don’t let cashback persuade you to choose a more expensive supplier, though, as the cheapest overall price is what matters.

Pens, notebooks, reusable bags, mugs and clothing can all make sense for the right business and customer. The choice should fit what you do, though, so a gardening business might find something garden-related more relevant than a generic office freebie, while a fitness business might choose something customers can use during a class.

You don’t necessarily have to stick to the usual promotional products either. SockPrinter’s custom logo socks, for example, can incorporate business colours and logos, with different styles and placements available. If you think your customers would genuinely use something like this, start small rather than assuming that a bigger order will automatically produce a better result.

Create little habits that customers recognise

Some memorable parts of a business aren't really marketing at all. They're small, repeatable things that customers start to associate with dealing with you.

That might mean a dog walker sending a photo from each walk, a shop wrapping gifts in a recognisable way or a business sending a useful reminder before every appointment. These don't need to be elaborate, and repeating the same helpful action can become part of the service customers expect from you.

Look particularly at points where customers frequently need help. If people regularly forget what to bring to an appointment, send a reminder beforehand; if they always ask what happens next after placing an order, explain it before they need to ask.

Make it easier for happy customers to recommend you

Word of mouth is particularly useful for a small business, but you don't need to turn every transaction into an uncomfortable request for a five-star review or recommendation. Making it easy for somebody to pass your details to somebody else can be enough.

A tradesperson could leave a card after completing a job, while an online business can make its contact and social details easy to find on useful information included with the order. If somebody has already told you they're happy with what you've done, that's also a much more natural point to ask whether they'd be willing to leave a review.

You can also consider a customer referral scheme if the numbers make sense for your business. Work out what you're prepared to spend to acquire a new customer first, rather than choosing a discount or reward and only afterwards discovering that you've given away most of the profit from the sale.

Test small before spending a lot

This is probably the most useful rule when you're running a business on a tight budget. You don't know that an idea works just because another business uses it, and spending £500 on branded merchandise isn't automatically better marketing than spending £50.

Start with a small quantity where possible and watch what customers actually do. If people comment on something, use it or respond positively, you've got a reason to consider doing more of it; if your expensive promotional item is routinely left behind, you've learned something before ordering another 1,000.

Keep an eye on the numbers too. If you introduce a referral offer, loyalty scheme or customer gift, record what it costs and whether you're seeing repeat orders or referrals from the people receiving it. You don't need complicated marketing software to spot whether you're spending money on something that isn't producing any obvious benefit.

Don't let the extras replace good service

There's a limit to what packaging, promotional products and clever follow-up emails can achieve. Customers are still likely to remember whether you delivered what you promised, communicated properly and dealt fairly with them when something went wrong.

That's one of the areas where a small business can compete without trying to match a larger company's advertising budget. You can make decisions quickly, recognise returning customers and put a genuine person behind the emails and messages people receive.

If you're deciding where to spend a limited marketing budget, start by looking for one point in the customer experience that you could improve without spending anything. Once that's working well, you can test whether a paid extra, from better packaging to a useful branded product, adds enough value to justify its cost.

Frequently asked questions

How can a small business make customers feel valued?

Start with the customer experience rather than gifts or discounts. Remembering useful preferences, communicating clearly, providing helpful information and recognising returning customers can all make people feel valued without adding much to your costs.

How do you encourage customers to come back?

Give customers a good reason to choose you again by providing consistent service and making repeat purchases easy. Useful reminders can also help where there's a natural buying cycle, such as servicing, grooming or regular appointments.

Are promotional products worth it for a small business?

They can be, but only if the item is relevant enough for customers to use and the cost makes sense for your business. Testing a small quantity before placing a large order reduces the risk of spending heavily on merchandise nobody wants.

What are some cheap customer loyalty ideas?

Useful follow-up information, personalised thank-you messages, remembering customer preferences and improving the buying experience can cost little or nothing. If you introduce rewards or gifts, calculate the cost against the likely value of repeat business rather than assuming every loyalty idea will pay for itself.

What branded merchandise works for a small business?

There isn't one product that's right for every business. Choose something useful and relevant to your customers, and favour a smaller test order before committing a large marketing budget.