You Don't Have to be Rich to Make Someone Feel Like a Millionaire

8 Customer Touches That Cost Under a Fiver But Feel Like a Grand

Wotcha!

Quick one, before we get started: me, Tom Panos, Simon Gates, Sally Lawson, and Chris Watkin... all on one bill? You spoil us, ambassador!

If you'd like to join me at the Estate Agency Success Summit on 18 June, you're welcome to use promo code TM150 to save on the ticket price. 

Now, one of the great paradoxes of customer service is this: throw money at someone and they'll forget it; do something small, bespoke and thoughtful and they'll remember it for years. 

We've talked ourselves into believing that standing out is expensive... But standing can be cheap - as long as it's considerate and personal.

And the reason these tiny touches feel like a grand is because nobody else can be bothered to do them. The bar is on the floor - step over it and you look ten feet tall.

So here are 8 customer small gestures that cost next to nothing but land like a small fortune.

1. The hand-written, hand-delivered card

After viewings: "Thank you for letting us into your home." After valuations: "Whatever you choose to do next, I enjoyed meeting you and wish you the best." After completion: "Welcome to your new home." After a year: "Happy anniversary in your home!"

Don't post it; don't Moonpig it; don't even Funky Pigeon it. Write it in pen, and place it in their hand - it will help to forge a stronger connection.

2. A 60-second film of the empty house

On key day, before a single box arrives, walk through the empty property on your phone. Capture the bare rooms, the light coming through the windows, the echo.

Then send it over with, "Thought you'd want this - the last time it'll ever look like this."

People keep these forever. It's the "before" to a lifetime of "afters".

3. Buy them a coffee

It may sound, but how often do you expect to be offered a drink at the market appraisal?

There aren't many industries that expect the customer to offer hospitality to the company. Instead, call ahead to your next appointment and say you're grabbing a coffee on the way over and would like to take their order. 

Arriving with a gift at the start of the MA means you will benefit from the reciprocity effect - one of the most powerful psychological principles in marketing. Give a gift, and the customer feels like they owe you... which is rather handy when you want their business.

4. A framed photo of their front door

A simple, clean photograph of the front door, the one they were so nervous about getting the keys to, printed and dropped into an IKEA frame.

It's oddly emotional. That door is the symbol of the whole stressful, emotional journey they just went on, and you're the one who handed it back to them as a keepsake.

5. The hand-drawn neighbourhood map

Nobody moves house and instantly knows where the good coffee, the quiet pub, or the decent Sunday roast is. They certainly don't know which day the bins go out.

So tell them. A one-page "guide to your new patch" - best takeaway, friendliest pub, where to get a bacon sarnie, recycling day, the shortcut to the shops.

It costs a sheet of paper and ten minutes of local knowledge you already have rattling around your head - but to someone brand new to an area, it's gold.

6. Write to the dog

Stay with me.

If there was a dog at the viewings, or a cat curled on the windowsill, a hamster they introduced you to - you noted the name (you did note the name, didn't you?).

Send a card addressed to the pet. "Dear Bella, congratulations on your new garden. Try not to dig it all up. Love, the team." Pop a £3 packet of treats in the envelope.

The owner will lose their entire mind.

7. The text that lands a year later

Set a reminder for 12 months after completion, then send a single WhatsApp: "A year ago today you got the keys. Hope number 14 has been everything you hoped for."

And attach the video you filmed in suggestion 2.

Don't add "and if you know anyone looking to sell…" - just show that you remembered. 

8. Turn their house into a colouring-in sheet

I always suggest this - because I love it so much. And I don't need to spell out the psychological gain of winning the approval of a client's kids.

Take the main photo of the property, run it through an AI tool to turn it into a clean line drawing, and print it as a colouring-in sheet. "Colour in your new home!" Leave it in the house on moving day, along with a pack of crayons.

The kids are occupied for an hour on the most chaotic day of their parents' year, and the parents will thank you for it long after they've forgotten which portal they found the listing on.

The Bar Is On the Floor - Step Over It

None of these needs a big budget. They just need attention, a little effort, and the willingness to do the small thing when everyone else can't be bothered.

As the great saying goes: people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.

Cheering you on!

Toby