To entice the good folks of the Marysville, Wash., area to visit Sunnyside Nursery, owner Steve Smith has instituted a number of customer service staples, starting with The Sunnyside Nursery Customer Appreciation Program. Like Smith, the program is straightforward and easy: “Be our customer, and we appreciate it!”
The program works like this: Any time someone purchases something from Sunnyside Nursery at regular price, Smith and staff will mark that amount on his/her Customer Appreciation Card. When the customer fills up the card, he/she can use it for $10 off the next purchase. The card can be used any time on anything.
“Filled it up 10 years ago? No problem!,” Smith said. “There is no expiration date. Want to use it during the busiest time of the gardening season? No problem! You can use it any time of the year. Want to buy a shrub that you’ve had your eye on, but darned it if it isn’t on sale when you get around to picking it up? No problem! You can use the card toward sales items, too.”
A significant facet of the program is “Customer Appreciation Day!” Every October, the garden center dedicates an entire afternoon to its customers. From 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. on this day, the staff has the grill going for free hot dogs, along with chips, drinks, and even cake. “We hand out raffle tickets to give away tons of gardening supplies (from tools, to pots, to compost and fertilizer, to plants, and even planted containers) and a gift certificate to the nursery,” Smith said. “This day is kid-friendly, too, with face painting and various activities set up for our customers’ children to enjoy. We realize the ultimate reason for our success is our customers. We enjoy showing them our appreciation. Our ‘Customer Appreciation Program’ is one way of doing this.”
Do his customers appreciate him and his garden center for doing this? Can you say, "Cha-ching!"?
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