One of my favorite things about birthdays is hearing good wishes from friends and family worldwide through calls, messages, and social media posts. As I celebrated my special day in August, something stood out more than ever before. It was what I call “Birthday-Business-Personal” or BBP messages.
Despite their commercial agenda, I appreciate the personal touch of these BBP messages. These messages are designed to increase top-of-mind recall for their associated brands, and I will be more inclined to consider doing business with them in the future.
While some were messages from retailers with birthday coupons and gift cards, what really stood out for me included:
- A message from an orthopedist I saw only once in India. They knew I now live in the U.S., and they still sent the greeting despite the slim chance of seeing them again. A dentist and optometry clinic in the U.S., who I have consulted one time, also sent warm, personalized greetings.
- A video message from my alma mater, the University of Houston. The director of alumni relations wished me greetings from all the swankiest places on campus – illustrating how much the university has progressed and become such a modern and inviting campus. Go Coogs!
- A printed birthday card from a local Hallmark store I visit. I loved the choice of words in the personalized greeting and attached was a discount coupon.
Are there any customer service lessons we can glean from these greetings? Here are my takeaways.
- A birthday is a great occasion to do something personal for your customers. In a technology-laden world, a handwritten note will go a long way in leaving a lasting impression on your customer.
- Multifamily colleagues: leave your residents a note on their door or surprise them with a balloon or single flower on their special day.
- Use birthdays as an opportunity to showcase newer aspects of your business to your customers. For my birthday, we dined at a fancy sushi restaurant. I didn’t find the dessert menu inviting, yet my server insisted we try a complimentary sweet potato concoction. Guess what? We may be eating it again in the future!
- Apartment communities: You may have added an amenity or are hosting an event. In a note or email, encourage your residents to take part during their birthday month and/or include a photo of a past event in the greeting, inviting them to attend the next one.
- If someone has done business with you even once or visited your apartment community, there is no real downside in sending them a greeting. It may convert a prospective customer/resident into an actual customer/resident.
- Greetings from former schools can pique one’s interest in visiting again. Alumni Relations departments are smart to personalize a greeting that an alumnus can share with their network. There may be development dollars to be raised!
As a business owner, I picked up some great tips from these Birthday-Business-Personal messages for making my customers and employees feel special. What tips can you share to make your customers feel loved on birthdays?
About The Extra Mile
The Extra Mile is an online column serving the multifamily industry that features tips and testimonials for providing exceptional service for your residents. Reputation management expert Priyanka Agarwal will share exemplary customer service examples from inside and outside the industry which can enhance a property’s reputation and, ultimately, encourage new leases, referrals, and renewals. For questions and/or comments, contact priyanka@jturnerresearch.com.