Having customers is a good thing.  But having rabid fans turns your customer base into a word-of-mouth machine.

So how do you turn regular customers into foaming-at-the-mouth animals who are ravenous for more of your products?

Well…you could…

• give your merchandise away for free
• purchase a tropical island for each of your customers
• have Chuck Norris intimidate each customer into fanaticism

Not the ideas you were looking for?

Not to worry.  We’ve got another really good one.

Okay, so the holidays are over, and we’re stuck in that bleak January vibe.  The exciting Christmas cards that used to be in your customers’ mailboxes have been replaced by bills.  So we’re thinking that now would be a great time to start sending fun surprises to your customers via postal mail.  How about starting with little gift certificates or coupons?

Then, what if a few weeks after the coupon…wham!  Another surprise.  This time you could mail out promotional items – cool magnets, perhaps.  And then, when the clients least expect it…kazaam!  You can surprise them with a little something else.

Slowly but surely, your customers will start to look forward to these surprises.  And on a random day in March when not much else is going down, a little pick-me-up from you might just be enough to get your customer to Tweet about you.  And across town, maybe another surprise recipient might mention you to a friend.  Then, maybe after the next surprise, you might find a shout out to your company on someone’s Facebook status.

And, little by little, ordinary customers will start morphing into crazy fans.

And as your thoughtful gifts and coupons continue to surprise them, their loyalty and referrals will pleasantly surprise you.