How do you thank your loyal users?

Wow -- I may have just had the best "customer love" experience of my life. Over the last five years, I've been spending way too much money buying prescription glasses from one of those foofy overpriced mall "eyewear" boutiques (The Eye Gallery in the Flatirons mall outside Boulder CO). I keep going there because the optometrist is amazing, helpful, nice to be around, treats you like a friend, and most importantly--spends a lot of time educating and motivating you about what's really going on with your eyes, how to take better care of them, what it means to your eyes to be living at such a high altitude, etc. And best of all (for me), the folks there take the time to help me find something at least half-way flattering (or at least they do a great job of making me believe that... by the time I leave they have me thinking I look like Heidi Klum. Of course that wears off completely once I'm in, say, the dressing room at Nordstroms).

So I just lost my last pair of glasses and went in all desperate, 20 minutes before closing. My normal doctor was out on maternity leave, but her new husband, who'd never seen me before was there and he decided to do the exam right then, after closing time. Then he and one of his assistants spent 45 minutes helping me while I agonized between the two "designer" frames I'd narrowed it down to. On one hand was the very fun, very french, very expensive pair of purple frames that I dearly wanted... and on the other were the tortoise shell ones that were still cool, but way more practical. I wimped out and went with the tortoise shell.

Now the good part...

I came back in the next day when they were ready, and the optometrist's husband pulled out the tortoise shell glasses with my new lenses, and did all the adjustments. Then just before I got up to leave, he said, "Oh, I talked to my wife last night about you, and you've been such a great customer that we decided you might want to have some fun... so we went ahead and made those purple ones for you as well. They're on us."

I was stunned. Those very festive, very french suckers cost over $300, and here they were saying, "Here, go have some fun!" Talk about endearing me for life--I'll never buy glasses anywhere else as long as I still live anywhere in this state. And I'm dragging everyone else I know down there too, armed with all the knowledge they've given me about how important it is to have regular exams, the right UV protection, etc.

Yes, I spent a lot of money there over the last few years, but that's nothing compared to what I've spent on, say, my computers, stereo equipment, hell--I've spent more on Amazon just for books! But I've never had a personalized or even remotely special thank-you. Would it really kill most big companies to do that?

(I just remembered another fun example--two weeks after my father bought a new Honda, he got a huge shock when someone from the dealership showed up at his doorstop with a basket of fresh-baked cookies as a thank-you and follow-up.)

But the best part of the thank-you I got from the Eye Gallery is that they gave me an "I Rule!" experience. They weren't just creating a loyal customer, they were helping ME be more playful. They were helping me kick-ass. (Assuming you're willing to buy into my delusion that wearing those cool purple frames makes me smarter, more clever, and definitely more fun ; )

So, how are you thanking your users? How are the companies you do business with rewarding or at least acknowledging you for your loyalty? Next time you think about how to thank your users, see if there's a way to do something else for them, in the context of showing your appreciation. See if you what you do for them makes them have more fun.

They'll love you forever.