Question

Topic: Advertising/PR

5 Year Anniversary Ideas For A Small Business

Posted by Anonymous on 4/30/2010 at 6:21 PM ET 125 Points
I have recently started working for a small technology company in a small city of 57,000. We sell business technology solutions such as desktop telephones, data cabling services, computer networking, sounds systems, etc. www.zedteeel.ca for more information. It is time for the 5th year anniversary coming up on July 15th and we want to make a big splash to support our customers. We want to be remarkable and do something different than the typical cake and BBQ. It is important to give our customers a story to tell about our service overall and how this day is really about celebrating them, not us. The partners in this company are absolute experts in their field and go above and beyond to make sure that their customers expectations are not just met, but exceeded. I am extremely grateful to work with this company and believe that this 5 year anniversary will give us the outlet to shout it from the rooftops. without spending too much money... any thoughts?
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RESPONSES

  • Posted on 4/30/2010 at 9:03 PM Moderator
    If your customers are really delighted with your service, then the anniversary celebration is a waste of time and energy (and maybe some money). Your customers don't care if you're 4 years old, or 4.5 years old, or 5 years old. They care that they get superb service from you, and that you consistently exceed their expectations.

    Anniversaries are a prime example of inward thinking. You are the only ones who care about how old the company is. Spinning it to make it seem like it's for the customers is just a way to justify your inward focus. If it were truly for the customers, you'd simply send them all a box of chocolates (or whatever) to thank them for the privilege of serving them. You wouldn't need an anniversary excuse.
  • Posted by Jay Hamilton-Roth on 4/30/2010 at 9:35 PM Member
    Offer a series of teleseminars/webinars for FREE for your 5th anniversary. Ask your customers what topics they'd want to learn more about, and then find the experts to talk about 'em. It's a win-win effort, and it puts the focus on your customers, where it belongs.
  • Posted by telemoxie on 5/1/2010 at 1:36 PM Member
    the advice seems to be that you should focus on your customers rather than your own business... would it make sense to recognize and to celebrate five years of service to a particular company? Could you offer some extra attention, and generate a user story highlighting the benefits you have provided and the benefits of a long-term relationship? Rather than a single one-time event, if you are intending to develop long-term relationships with clients, could this become a series of celebrations and case studies?
  • Posted on 5/1/2010 at 4:46 PM Accepted
    I think telemoxie has come up with a great solution. Celebrate the 5th anniversary of service to each customer, and promote the celebration to everyone. That way the message is that your customers are loyal, they appreciate your excellent service, and they -- in effect -- endorse and recommend you.

    That's a whole lot better than beating your chest and telling the world that you managed to survive for 5 years.

    Nice idea, telemoxie.
  • Posted on 5/10/2010 at 3:26 PM Author
    Thank you all for your responses. We have decided to make our fifth year anniversary a customer focused event. What we are trying to do with our customers in the long term is create loyal, not repeat customers. So, we have decided to have a small casino night where all of the staff here will be the dealers and servers. We want to interact on a personal level and have fun with them, this will make it more personable to do business in the future. In conjuction with this we are doing an anonymous online survey to get insight into what we are doing well and what we could do better. We are also giving a gift to all of our customer in appreciation of their business with us in the last 5 years. Again, thank you all for your help.
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