How to Plan the Best Customer Appreciation Event Ever!

It’s important to know how to plan a customer appreciation event.

A company that invests in a great customer appreciation event sets itself apart from every competitor.

Companies that hold great events have better customer satisfaction, they are better able to retain their client base, they get more referrals, they get more testimonials and they even make more sales to new clients.

Done well, events have the following advantages:

Improve customer retention
Get more testimonials
Get good PR and visibility
Expand your client base
Make more sales!

So, what does “done correctly” mean for customer appreciation events? How much should you spend on these things? (grumbles the accountant) and what activities should you plan?

The best customer appreciation events include three factors:

Food
A fun (or educational and fun) activity
Thoughtful opportunities to mingle with other customers, family, friends and fans.

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Scheduling a Client Appreciation Event

Aviation companies schedule their customer appreciation events around a NBAA, AOPA, EAA conventions. They know that many of their most important customers will be in town.

Bell Helicopters held their customer loyalty event in conjunction with the HAI Heli-Expo last week in Orlando. Many of the FBO, MRO and fuel companies plan their events in conjunction with NBAA events. The downside is it can be very difficult to compete with the larger companies, so these might need to be scheduled carefully to build loyalty. It’s easier to schedule breakfasts, dinners, or events the day before or after a convention starts or ends.

How Much to Spend on Your Event

There are several factors to take into account – how many customers do you want or need to invite? How much does each of them spend on your product or service per year? How long do they remain customers? (There is a simple formula for customer lifetime value or CLV – transaction amount x average number of transactions over a customers’ “lifetime.”)

You may also have competitors to take into account. Ideally, you want to spend just a bit more than your competitors are spending on their events, if they have them. You also want to take into account the demographics, expectations and sensitivities of your customers. As an example, customers for luxury products expect to be treated like VIPs, so keep the event small but high-end. Customers for more practical products may not be inclined to dress up for a fancy dinner and would be more comfortable at a barbecue.

A good rule is to “spend time rather than money.” Take the time to ask some of your best customers, or customers who have been in your loyalty program the longest for advice. Ask them how they feel about certain options. Take their suggestions into account. Personalize the experience whenever you can.

Who to Invite

Ideally, you’ll want to invite about 75% current customers, 25% prospects.

Customers will be the overwhelming majority, so prospects will be “surrounded.” They will be rubbing elbows with people who can answer their questions and speak with experience about your product.

Consider inviting spouses, or even children. Many businesspeople appreciate the opportunity to spend time with their families at a fun activity. They are more willing to attend an evening or weekend event if it’s also an opportunity to have fun with their family.

I’d you do plan an “adults only” event, make it clear on the invitation. This makes it less likely that anyone will bring children to your event. But misunderstandings do happen, so think about a Plan B in case anyone shows up with children. You might have someone ensure activities planned for them.

Activities to Plan

All of these activities have been done successfully by aviation, high tech, and/or business to business companies. Of course you can’t make everyone happy, but pick something the majority of your customers will enjoy. Many of these activities can be combined into a single event.

Sit-down dinners at a restaurant
Fly-in cookouts, picnics, pancake breakfasts
Fishing trips
Golf outings
Other games (croquet, darts, karaoke, you name it!)
A day at an amusement park, water park or other attraction (many will allow you to “rent” the whole venue)
Box seats or a group of seats at a ball game, concert or other event
Private screenings of a film at a theater
An appearance, talk, or photo opportunity with a celebrity
A photo opportunity with an airplane, classic car, or other “cool” thing.
New product announcements (watch how Steve Jobs used to do this for Apple.)
Technical workshops, user groups or training opportunities
Interviews with customers. Allow them to “plug” their business while mentioning how they use your product.
Business card drawings
Live music.
Gift cards or prizes for the winners of games.

Couple of pointers:

For ideas, look at what large companies are doing and scale down. (Cisco does a great job of advertising and organizing their customer appreciation events here: http://www.ciscolive.com/us/)
Your events may be “smaller,” but use personalization to make yours more private, exclusive and special. Dinner for 12 can be even more enjoyable than a party for thousands. The goal is to make loyal customers feel appreciated, not to dazzle with a big budget.
Invite and encourage participants to take pictures and post them to social media. Take pictures yourself, have on-site, red-carpet “photo booths” or hire roving photographers.
Consider partnering with other companies who share the same customers and host a joint event.
Encourage networking. Introduce customers that might benefit from doing business together. Make connections.

Bell’s Customer Appreciation Event at HAI Heli-Expo included many great features. They had live music, great food, networking opportunities, and photo opportunities. You’d be surprised how many grown-up, professional people will stand in line for a picture with Mickey Mouse or Goofy. The invitation gave very specific details and instructions.

By contrast, ABCI’s own customer appreciation event at HAI was a budget friendly, relatively simple, quiet dinner. We had nine people at a nice restaurant near the convention, with lots of great food and great conversation.

Both were very enjoyable and successful events!

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