I used to be extremely passionate about saving a bottle of perfume or body lotion “for best”, as did my parents with their silverware and bone china, at Christmas or on special occasions all the good stuff came out.

A good while ago I stopped this “save for best” behavior and committed myself to using my treasures – a recent event that reinforced my perspective was a thank you gift of a scent from my mother-in-law. I have been fixated on this unisex parfum for over a year, her wise words – “make sure you use it every day, you should share the love you have for this scent”.

This so true in a business sense too, sharing the love and showing appreciation to your customers and employees once a year at Christmas is not enough. To improve brand loyalty, customers and employees need to be appreciated, even better, delighted all year round!

Gone are the days of customer and employee satisfaction, to really make an impact on consumers and hold onto your talent they need to be delighted. Standard customer or employee satisfaction surveys are no longer good enough, an element of surprise is required – a wonderful experience that triggers an emotional reaction or response.

A couple of ways to achieve this wonderful experience is by listening to your audience, be customer and talent focused, prioritize and reward the loyal, embed and share your organization’s culture and be spontaneous with perks or treats (they do not need to be ‘grand gestures’ or ‘big ticket items).

Your customers and employees are your treasures, don’t just let them know at Christmas – surprise them all year round.