Want to improve your community and help your business at the same time? You can accomplish both of those things and more through random acts of kindness.
It might not seem like these simple acts should be at the top of your priority list. But being helpful and kind can really improve your reputation with customers. Here are 50 random acts of kindness your customers are sure to love.
Random Acts of Kindness Ideas to Delight Your Customers
Put a Handwritten Note in Shipped Packages
If you have an eCommerce business, your shipments can provide a great opportunity for random acts of kindness. Put handwritten thank you notes or other kinds of sentiments inside packages along with customers’ purchases.
Send Out “Just Because” Discount Codes
Discounts are popular for drumming up business. But they can also be a great way for you to show appreciation and kindness to customers. Send out some unexpected discounts to customers via email or social media just to say thanks.
Offer to Wrap Gifts
For local retail businesses, you can offer to wrap items that your customers plan to give as gifts at no extra charge.
Carry Purchases Out for Customers
If customers purchase a lot of items or anything that might be especially heavy, offer to help them carry it out to their vehicle.
Send Thank You Notes
When customers make especially big or recurring purchases, send them an unexpected note to thank them for their business.
Encourage Your Team to Give Compliments
Your team can also be a great resource for showing kindness to your customers. Encourage them to do the simple things like compliment your customers.
Compliment People Within Your Team
By that same token, your team might be more likely to pass along kindness if you’re also kind to them. So be sure to share kind thoughts with them regularly.
Send Tokens to Local Kids
To help those in need, you can send sample products or small gifts to kids in local hospitals or shelters.
Start a Donation Program for Purchases
You can also show some kindness by giving money to worthy causes. Start a program where you donate a portion of purchases to a specific cause.
Offer Delivery When Conditions Might Prohibit Some Customers from Driving
If you have a snow storm or other weather event in your area that could prohibit some elderly customers from leaving their homes, offer to bring food or other purchases to them instead.
Donate Unused Food Items at the End of the Day
For businesses that sell food items, you can make a difference in your community by donating any unused food items to local soup kitchens or food pantries at the end of each day.
Send Helpful Articles
You can also show kindness by sharing information. Send helpful articles to customers or others online when you think it’s something that might interest them.
Offer a Free Service for Local Homeless Residents
To help those who don’t have shelter in your area, you could offer free or discounted food items specifically for those in need.
Start a “Pay It Forward” Program
Or you could help your other customers make a difference by offering a “pay it forward” option where your customers can purchase an extra meal, coffee or other product to be given to someone in need at a later time.
Offer a “Pay What You Can” Structure
You could also offer a system where customers can simply pay whatever they can for your food or products, so that people who can’t afford much can still purchase what they need. And then those who can afford more have the ability to help others.
Leave Grab Bags or Care Packages in Your Lobby
If you want to help those in need in your community without making them actually ask for help, you can simply set out some care packages or grab bags with useful items in your lobby so that people can take what they need.
Really Listen to Customers
Showing kindness doesn’t have to mean offering a tangible item or monetary gift to customers. You can also simply listen to your customers when they want to talk.
Ask Questions
And you don’t have to wait for your customers to bring up issues or things to talk about. Ask genuine questions to get to know them.
Write Positive Reviews of Other Businesses
You can also show some kindness to other businesses in your community by leaving positive reviews for other businesses that you’ve patronized. This can help you create strong connections and even help your reputation around town.
Post an Inspirational Quote Each Day
A simple quote or positive thought can also go a long way toward creating a kind and positive atmosphere for your customers.
Donate Old Supplies or Inventory
If you have any old supplies or inventory that you’re not using anymore, donate it to community causes instead of simply throwing it away.
Host a Collection for Customers to Donate
You can also get your customers in on the donation efforts by hosting a collection or drive where they can bring in old items to donate to specific organizations or causes.
Let Girl Scouts Sell Cookies at Your Business
Or you can even let groups hold their own fundraisers at or outside your business. For example, let local Girl Scouts set up a cookie table near your entrance.
Put Out a Donation Jar for Other Causes
You can even keep it really simple and just put out a donation jar to collect change and small donations for specific community causes.
Recycle Items for Customers
Recycling can be another way to give back. And since recycling certain items can be a bit of a pain, you can make it easy for customers by letting them bring in those items and then doing the rest for them.
Start a Team for a Local Charity Walk
There are also plenty of different events and fundraisers, like races, team walks and more that support a variety of different charities. Put together a team of your employees and customers and then promote the event at your business.
Provide Fun Activities for Clients’ Kids
If you have a lot of clients or customers who bring their kids in with them, keep some simple activities like coloring books around to give them something to do.
Include a Fun Gift for Buyers with Kids
You can also provide small gifts for customers’ kids. Even something as small as a sticker or lollipop can make the experience memorable for them.
Follow Up After Purchases
After a customer makes a purchase, check in with them on the phone or via email just to ask about their experience and make sure they’re happy with their purchase.
Remember Customer Names
When talking with repeat customers, remembering their names can make a huge difference. Go out of your way to greet everyone personally whenever possible.
Suggest Products/Services from Other Businesses
You can also improve customers’ experiences even more by providing more than just your own products or services. If you get to know your customers and what they need, you can suggest products or services from other businesses just to be helpful.
Give Unexpected Gifts to Employees Who Provide Great Service
If you want to improve kindness among your customer-facing team members, you can incentivize great service by periodically giving unexpected gifts to those who go the extra mile.
Provide Micro Investments to Other Entrepreneurs
You can also help out other entrepreneurs and your own reputation in the process by supporting other startups or projects through crowdfunding or micro investments.
Offer a Discount for Veterans
To show your appreciation to those who have served or are currently serving, offer a discount on your products or services for military veterans and their families.
Host Special Events on Holidays
You can show your appreciation to a wide variety of customers by hosting just-for-fun events on some holidays. Include little freebies or fun activities like live music that your customers will love.
Teach Customers a New Skill
Or you can provide extra value to customers by teaching a new skill for free. If you own a craft store, for example, host a monthly knitting circle or offer to teach specific sewing techniques to customers who have questions.
Make Helpful Introductions for Clients
Especially for B2B businesses, you can potentially help your clients out a lot by offering to make introductions to others you know within their particular niche or industry.
Provide Free Snacks or Beverages
For businesses that have customers visit in person, provide some free snacks or beverages to them while they browse or wait.
Leave Small Gifts Inside Products
Retail businesses can also provide free tokens or gifts to customers by hiding them inside other products so that they’ll be surprised when they get home.
Send Free Gifts to Social Media Followers
Your social media followers also deserve some random acts of kindness. You can randomly choose a couple of followers periodically and contact them to send a free gift.
Let Followers Nominate Others to Receive Free Gifts
Or you can be more strategic and let your followers nominate their friends or family members and explain why they deserve a free gift. Then choose the most deserving recipients.
Send Regular Compliments to Customers on Social Media
If you don’t have the resources to send actual gifts to people, you can still spread kindness on social media by simply complimenting your customers when they share helpful or interesting posts.
Post Random Acts of Kindness Ideas on Social Media
You can also encourage others to perform random acts of kindness by posting an action or idea each week on social media.
Write Nice Blog Comments
If you read or follow any blogs in your industry, you can spread some kindness by sharing nice, positive comments.
Plant a Tree
Planting trees can be a great way to help your community and the environment. You can even make it into a big event and invite customers or clients.
Clean Up a Park
Or you can help out by hosting local cleanup effort at a park or other outdoor space in your area.
Sponsor a Highway
Many highways accept business sponsors to help fund cleanup and maintenance efforts. So you could take part as a way of supporting your local area.
Provide Support for Local Events
Or you could sponsor local charity or educational events by providing funding or necessary supplies.
Let Customers Post on a Community Bulletin Board
To give your customers a way to easily share their own information about causes or local initiatives, set up a community bulletin board in your store or office lobby.
Put Up Posters for Charity Events
You can also put up posters or informational flyers about local events, charities or causes to support those initiatives and keep your customers informed.
Heart Photo via Shutterstock
This article, “50 Random Acts of Kindness Your Customers Will Love” was first published on Small Business Trends