How to Show the Love to Your Clients
This week is Valentine’s Day. And even if you’re not big on romantic gestures in your personal life, why not find a way to celebrate the holiday in your work life, by showing the love to your clients?
From day one of Ellevated Outcomes’ inception, I knew that we’d do something annually to show clients our love and appreciation. I mean, there’d be no business without them; it’s such a no brainer to me. So last week, we had a little party in Nashville to show our gratitude. And you know that it had to have a theme: the Five Love Languages.
(I think) it was a success! Clients left with their bellies full, feeling proud of their 2018 successes, and with a gift in hand. I learned a few lessons for next time, but I’ve been instructed to be content with the success right now and look for “areas of improvement” later 🙂
Here are a few tips if you’d like to host a client gathering of your own:
1. Hire an event planner.
WORTH EVERY PENNY. This was the best money I’ve spent in a long time. If you’re in Nashville, I can’t recommend Social Bliss Events enough. Owner Sarah Patton knows everyone in town, keeps you to budget (she busted me a couple times), and is so organized.
I’m usually the one who’s two steps ahead of others, so to have someone telling me what to do during our three months of planning was a game changer. This also allowed me to keep my full workload in the weeks leading up to the event, as I wasn’t distracted with errands and planning logistics. I am so thankful for Social Bliss; I cannot emphasize this enough.
2. Take people somewhere they haven’t been.
One of the many, many wonderful things that Sarah’s team did was scout venues. Since this is what they do for a living, they brought to our attention a new-ish space in Nashville called Meet + Greet. It was its own topic of conversation at the party because not one person had been there before, and it was fabulous.
The manager Brandy and event coordinator Erin were FANTASTIC. Let’s put it this way: I arrived at the venue two hours before we were to get started, and everything was done. They spent the day making sure that I had a coffee or water in my hand at all times; they greeted clients and took their coats; and they tended to every detail that I wasn’t aware of. Just fantastic.
3. Have a little wildcard treat.
Tim Newell of American Express advised: “Do something unexpected that people will love but they wouldn’t do for themselves. Like a magician or a psychic.”
Magicians and psychics weren’t totally on brand for Ellevated Outcomes, this concept did get my wheels turning… and we landed on a masseuse!
We had Geoff Skene and his guide dog Miss Betty with us, and they were a hit. One of Ellevated Outcomes’ values is inclusion, and it just so happens that Geoff is blind. I loved that we could make this important value come to life.
4. Give a mini-presentation and highlight the guests.
Personally, I like hearing myself talk as little as possible. But I was strongly advised by my cousin Liz that I’d be missing an opportunity if I didn’t speak and have some slides to go with it. Liz was right <eye roll>.
I spent five minutes talking about the mission and vision of Ellevated Outcomes, emphasizing why everyone was there, and how they were part of a larger, rapidly growing group. Then, we really got into the love.
We featured all ten businesses who were present, sharing what work we did in 2018 and what the results were. For example, Endeavor Performance grew 40% in its 11th year of business(!?!). We highlighted each guest this way.
You have to remember: this is a group of high-achievers, who are always asking “what’s next?” The point was to pause and say, “Hold on. Look what you’ve done!!!”
5. Bring it all together in the end.
Admittedly, this is where I fell down a bit; I should’ve wrapped up sooner. We closed with one final thank you and a summary of what happened at the party. Because there was such a concrete theme, we wanted to make sure that no one missed a thing and that everyone did walk away feeling loved.
In the end, here’s how we expressed each of the Five Love Languages:
Words of affirmation // Everyone’s power songs, playing in the background
Quality time // Spending the afternoon together
Acts of service // Lunch prepared by Dinner Belle
Physical touch // Massages
Gifts // Bottle of wine to take home and celebrate with loved ones
If you’ve been reading for a while, you know that (I try to) say thank you as often as possible. So I hope that there are some ideas in here that you can use to show some extra appreciation and love to your work community this Valentine’s Day.
