Love on your favorite businesses

A season of love wouldn’t be complete without sprinkling a little appreciation on your favorite businesses. Maybe it’s the coffee shop down the street that makes the best blueberry lemon scones. Maybe it’s the local hospital that tirelessly and compassionately cares for your community. Or maybe it’s your favorite e-retailer that has great tech and an awesome community (wink wink).

Whoever it is, chances are you’re already shining your rays of appreciation on them in one way or another. After all, they are your favorite businesses! You love what they do, how they do it or how it impacts your life. You’ve enjoyed them so much, they have earned the very coveted place of ‘favorite’ in your life.

So, in honor of spreading the ‘biz’ love, here are a few out-of-the box ideas to shower your thanks and support on your favorite organizations.

Give (honest) feedback

This may sound like a trick – how can honest, potentially bad, news potentially be good news? Believe it or not, many organizations want to hear what you really have to say, even if it’s not all rainbows and sunshine. One of the ways businesses can improve themselves is by getting honest feedback from those who are using products or services regularly: YOU! So next time you want to shine some appreciation rays towards your favorite business, consider this relatively minimal-effort labor of love with a short email, direct message on social or anonymous note.

Tips: Ever heard of a compliment sandwich? Try it out next time you have something to say. As the famous saying goes, “it’s not always what you say, but how you say it.” Compliment BTL anyone?

LenovoPRO: Does Lenovo want feedback? Of course! Please share any good or not-so-good feedback with your community manager, Beth Knittel - bknittel@lenovo .com.

Complete the Surveys!

Speaking of feedback... You know about those “Tell us about your experience!” email surveys you might get all the time? Maybe consider filling one out. If free-form feedback isn’t your thing, pre-designed surveys might be the perfect fit. Give it a whirl and consider adding it to your email inbox reading routine. You never know – maybe your suggestion to put a meal back on the menu or proposed product usability fix could inspire some real action!

LenovoPRO: Does LenovoPRO have surveys? Of course! You can even get MyLenovoRewards points for completing them! Check it out on your LenovoPRO Store account page, under rewards

Leave a review

How many times have you made a buying decision, professionally or personally, that didn’t involve consulting product reviews: Google Reviews, G2 Crowd, Yelp!, product listing or other review platforms? I’d wager the likelihood to be low. Reviews from authentic users can help shed some real light on how things really work, feel, taste or function - that isn’t wrapped up in perfect marketing images and glamorous, well-chosen diction that temps crisp bills to wander out of your wallet.

As often as reviews can help potential customers and prospects get the real deal, it could also help your favorite businesses get an SEO boost and convert new business. When you share your authentic and positive experience online about a product, service, offering or experience, you are helping fuel future business for your favorite organizations. If you have a favorite business, chances are you glow about them – even without realizing it – to family and friends. So why not to strangers? Although many folks are more likely to leave a review about a negative experience, take a moment to consider sharing your positive experiences with your favorite business online.

LenovoPRO: Where can I leave reviews for LenovoPRO products? When viewing a recently purchase product or favorite product, there will be a header on the lower right (next to “Services”) titled “Reviews”. Click and watch your screen scroll to the Review section. Then, just below and to the right of the search bar for reviews, there is a little blue button that says, “Write A Review”. Click it and complete the fields to write a review!

Dig into the merch!

Depending on the type of offering your favorite business provides, swanky merchandise may be one of the streams of income that helps keep the lights on – figuratively or literally. Especially if the business runs a zero-cost offering, merch could even be the main source of revenue. So while you get to sport your favorite businesses logo via laptop stickers and cozy cotton tees, your favorite business gets some extra income and free walking advertisement through your actions. What better way to say thanks than with merch?

Join the loyalty program

This may seem like a no-brainer, but not everyone knows about the cool and colorful customer loyalty programs offered by many organizations. From the old-fashioned coffee cup card punch to a 5% back on all purchases and to earning free bagels, many of these programs are win-win-win. So if you’re already frequenting a favorite business, why not have something to show for it by tapping into the loyalty programs? This is great for your favorite businesses because it helps them identify you, shower you with some bonus treatment, and often clue you in on other cool offerings you may not know about. Which leads me to the next idea...

LenovoPRO: Does LenovoPRO have a customer loyalty program? Of course! MyLenovoRewards is an amazing program where you can earn rewards and get points for purchases. Free to join! Check it out.

Shop there!

Isn’t this one a little obvious? Maybe, but sometimes the obvious thing needs to be made explicitly clear. Shop! Make it rain! Spend your hard-earned cash on products, services and offerings that you love from your favorite business. Afterall, if you don’t enjoy what or where you shop and spend, why do it (unless you have no other option, cough, cough, internet providers?). But, as the old saying goes, everybody spends their money somewhere. So why not shop and spend with your favorite businesses?

LenovoPRO: We work hard to try and make it easy for your to shop for and pick out your favorite tech as an e-retail store. In case you haven’t stopped by the LenovoPRO Store lately, here’s a quick link to my favorite page... clearance is king.

Engage in events

Not every business has a cult-like following the like of Starbucks, CrossFit, SNL, Moleskin and Apple. So when there’s a local or digital event hosted by or featuring one of your favorite businesses, stop by! Say hello, show up to show your support, even if you don’t purchase anything. This goes for online events as well. Keep in mind following hashtags, liking content or re-tweeting news, events and updates to your followers. Every bit of support counts! And odds are, your favorite business will love seeing some familiar faces (or handles).

LenovoPRO: Does LenovoPRO have events – digital or physical? YES! You can find the latest digital events by checking out the “Events” tab in the community. Log into community or follow us on our socials (Twitter, Facebook) to get the latest updates for any events near your or online.

There you have it! Our quick-list ideas to show some love to your favorite businesses. But remember, at the end of the day, don’t think too hard! Just enjoy the people, businesses, products and services that you need and want in your life. The rest will come.

How do you show support for your favorite businesses? Want to shoutout a favorite local business near you? Please do in this thread and let us know if you liked this piece in the comments below!

Let us know in the comments below and be sure to check out more from All About Love!