By investing in your business, a customer has given you the responsibility and opportunity to provide excellent service. It’s not enough to be grateful for the results achieved. A good client appreciates that you can create strong relationships with those who’ve invested their time and money into your company’s success.
For customers who are loyal to you, it’s crucial to ensure they continue to feel appreciated. This also leads to better word-of-mouth marketing, more referrals, and increased ROI for your CS department.
Examples of How to Properly Thank a Customer for their Business
Most businesses will undervalue the impact of sending thank you messages to a customer or client, but then overestimate how uncomfortable the customer would feel receiving a thank you message.
Not understanding a thank-you message is a mistake that most businesses make but is an integral part of building customer loyalty.
It’s not just about the words you use in the message. The tone and voice you choose also make a big difference. Generic automated messages send a clear signal to customers that your business doesn’t care much for them – so do your best to come up with something more personal. And if you can’t think of anything yourself, this article will help get you on the right track.
Think of What Your Customers Care About
Who doesn’t love their pets?
We found a great example of how important thanking your customers can be if done in an intelligent, caring way. Here’s how Gene Caballero, CEO of GreenPal (a landscaping company) does it:
For the purpose of visually digesting what an interesting way of saying thank you might look like, here is a video from Gary Vee you can use as reference for new ideas.
Any Day of the Week Will Do
It seems challenging to stand out in an increasingly saturated SaaS market. After all, everything has been tried, tested, and then copied.
But there’s still an abundance of ideas that can make an impact on your customers. One way is by sending a thank you gesture out of the blue. It doesn’t have to be extravagant or expensive – just thoughtful and sincere, enough so that customers know they’re appreciated for their investment and loyalty.
A Video Can Say 1000 Words
A video message may take longer than a simple written letter. But your customer knows that too. They know the time and work you put into crafting a thank you video which can’t be replicated in a single letter.
So they’re more likely to watch it to the end, and they will have a greater appreciation for the effort you put towards the thank you video.
When to Send Thank You Messages?
Subscription/Retainer Clients
After agreeing to your terms of continued service you should definitely send a thank you message right away but partnering with clients who have a monthly or bi-monthly retainer can be a bit tricky.
You want to make sure you show your appreciation by sending them an email thanking them for their time and patronage on a schedule, correlated with updates and purchase anniversaries. However, the frequency of contact shouldn’t be so consistent that it annoys them either. Finding the proper balance for each customer is done through trial and error. More often than not, similar customers will have wildly differing opinions about the right number of messages from you.
One-time Buyers
How many times have you bought something and then a day or two later, the store sent you an email thanking you for your purchase? This is called post-purchase gratification. It’s a really simple way to communicate that they care about their customers – but it also has some really interesting psychological effects on the customer as well.
It’s not only good etiquette to send a thank you message right after purchase, it also helps boost customer satisfaction rates. There are many ways to send them off: through email, social media posts or in-person branded gifts. Sending a handwritten note is the most personal way of all and will leave an impression on the buyer that lasts far longer than any other form of correspondence.
Tips for Thank You Messages to Customers
One of the most powerful phrases in any language is “thank you.” Research has shown that people who send and receive thank-you notes experience a boost in positivity.
Avoid Platitudes and Be Sincere
If you’re not a copywriter, it might be difficult to avoid sounding cliche in your thank-you notes. To keep things professional, and thoughtful, and to avoid platitudes, consider:
- Having a copywriter draft a few thank you messages which you can then personalize and adjust.
- Drafting a few messages yourself and then going to a professional copywriter for edits and advice.
- Using AI tools such as Copy AI or ChatGPT to generate several thank you notes, then picking the best one. ChaGPT can also be used to improve your existing messages by simply requesting that and pasting the text you want to spruce up.
Image source: ChatGPT
As you can see, AI is fantastic at generating a baseline for your thank you note. Now you can edit it to your liking, write it down on a fancy piece of paper, and send it out to your clients.
Keep It Light and Simple
Make sure you have personalized cards for all of your clients. For example, if you’re a B2C business, use paw-printed cards if you’re looking to please the animal lovers. For B2B, a good idea is to go with minimalist shapes and various colors. A postcard is also an easy solution.
Handwriting Is Underrated
One important thing to remember when writing a thank you letter is that it should be legible and look professional. If this is not possible, then the thank you message can simply be printed out for your customer. The last thing you want to do is send a message where your handwriting is of poor quality. The appearance of your penmanship is a representation of your business.
Say Thank You During Your Client’s Subscription
It’s well known that customer retention is one of the most important factors in business. But it can be difficult to keep your clients engaged and happy when they are not physically present at your store or office.
SaaS businesses can say thank you after the first month, or whenever they see high-NPS.
Many businesses have found a creative way to say thank you by sending monthly subscription boxes with their favorite products as a gift for being loyal customers.
eCommerce ventures approach this in a slightly different way: sending a thank you gift together with the package not only makes a great impression, especially to first-time customers, but it also discourages returns.
100% About Them, 0% About You
It’s vital to keep promotional materials out of a thank you note, like coupons or digital business cards. The point is to convey your gratitude for the trust they placed in you and not promote your product. Avoid the generic (and boring) thing of using smiley faces and emoticons in your content, unless you know precisely how to use them and do so with moderation. Be unique and creative with how you communicate with your customers.
Pen Your Emotions with the Right Color
Red is a color that’s often used for anger, and it’s an understandable way to show how mad you are in an email. But when it comes to thanking someone on behalf of the company, don’t use red font or pens! It can come across as rude or too aggressive.
Blue or black ink works best if you’re looking for something professional. For the more fun B2C businesses, things like purple glitter gel pens may be fun for showing appreciation.
Let’s Learn! A Roundup of Opinions about Thank You Messages:
1. Use Exciting & Exclusive Perks
“Award your customers with exciting and exclusive perks. You can express your gratitude to your customers by making them feel extra special. Give them additional perks that they can ‘exclusively’ enjoy. This could be membership discounts, special rate offers, exclusive or VIP passes to social gathering events, etc. Give them the full experience and treat them like royalty. This will add value benefits for your existing customers.
High chances are, existing customers will also keep supporting your business to enjoy the benefits and perks you offer. Likewise, this way of saying thank you can also establish a robust customer experience and loyalty among your customers.”
Matt Weidle, BuyersGuide.org
2. Curate beautiful gifts
“In my world, customers or clients are our means of survival. Without paying clients, our agency would shut down. So we pride ourselves on curating beautiful gifts, specially tailored to each client’s interests and passions. For example, to say thank you to our loyal customers last year, especially during the Pandemic, we sent each client a personally tailored gift they’d enjoy, including a coffee table book.“
Lore Zeledon, Chief Strategy Officer at Gallardo Labs
3. Don’t hide your face, be personal
“I would recommend creating a personalized thank you video for your customers if you want to take things a step further. The best thing about videos is that you can’t pretend to be personal. The customer is aware of how much effort and time you’ve put in to create a personalized thank you video for them. The secret to thanking customers, regardless of medium, is to be personal, thoughtful, and honest.
Since personalized videos are time-consuming and manual labor, they come across to be very thoughtful. Send videos as part of a post-purchase follow-up or as an entirely separate interaction. Videos are extremely effective for special occasions and holidays, as they allow you to be more creative with the theme.”
Daniel Velez, CEO at Secure Leads, LLC
4. Offer premium discounts
“Customers are used to receiving thank you emails after each purchase, so just saying thanks isn’t notable and can come across as an empty platitude. If you want to connect with your customers, you need to offer them real value.
One tried-and-true tactic is to offer a discount, and that’s what we do at Compete Themes. After a few initial onboarding emails to get them set up with their new theme, we send an additional thank you email with a discounted offer on a premium product. This might unlock more customization options or give them cheaper access to our full suite of products.
With a valuable offer behind the thanks, the gesture is more sincere and creates a win-win business transaction.”
Ben Sibley, Founder at Compete Themes LLC
5. Offer continuous value
“I run a parenting/teaching blog and I also sell digital teaching products in an online marketplace. There are two main ways I try to thank a customer for their business.
The first is fairly obvious–having excellent customer service. If a customer asks a question, I answer it as quickly as possible (usually immediately). If they leave a review, I respond and thank them immediately. And of course, I do my best to make sure the product itself is error-free and easily accessible.
The second way, aside from actually thanking them for their purchase (which I do, but surprisingly, many companies overlook), is to offer them additional discounts and even free products in the future. Once a customer makes a purchase from me, either through my website directly or through one of the third-party marketplaces where I sell my digital products, they are added to my email list. I try to make that list mutually beneficial. I will periodically offer them exclusive discounts and free materials. Because I have virtually no overhead on my digital products, it doesn’t really hurt my bottom line to offer value to the customers on my email list. At the same time, customers who stay on my list for a while tend to become repeat purchasers. That’s a win-win situation.”
Charissa West, Owner/Founder at The Wild, Wild West Parenting Blog
6. Deliver branded gifts
“We use a multi-tiered marketing solution to thank our customers for their business. Depending on the order or customer value, it ranges from an email to a hand-written thank you card to, most notably, a custom branded gift package that includes a pen, hat, and travel mug decorated with the customer’s logo.”
Bret Bonnet, Co-Founder/President at Quality Logo Products, Inc.
7. Give them a seat at the table
“The best way to show appreciation to customers is to keep them at the center of every decision made and to show it in communications with them. In the software industry, this might mean explaining the productivity or quality of life improvements for a given new feature and giving them input into the strategy so they feel they have a voice in how the product is integrated into their daily lives. The more we test features with customers the more they feel a part of the team.”
Charles Edge, CTO at Bootstrappers.mn
8. Give customized gifts that show you care
“I started a global branding and digital marketing firm 19 years ago based in Cambridge, MA. For the first few years, I sent year-end holiday gifts to all my clients and basically gave all top customers one gift and mid-tier and smaller ones different ones. Bigger clients got bigger gifts. Most were branded with my firm¹s logo, so everyone knew it came from us.
After a few years, I decided to make a change and customize gifts for key relationships. My client who I met through our common college alumni network got college swag related to year-end Bowl Games. Our clients in the food industry got customized food-related gifts like gift certificates related to their personal tastes. One movie buff got movie passes and coupons for treats at the theater. I actually spent less money on the customized gifts but found they made a much bigger impact and left a stronger impression.”
Paige Arnof-Fenn, Founder & CEO at Mavens & Moguls
9. Investigate to see what your clients care about
“First of all, actually say ‘Thank You’ and be genuine about it. You are grateful for their business and the partnership that you’ve built with them, and it goes a long way!
Secondarily, jump on social media and do a quick bit of research — find out what they are into and then see what kind of small gift you can send them that would show you appreciate them and make them feel known because it was tailored to something they care about.”
Ashlee Rolkowski, Director of Marketing at Lone Fir Creative
10. Follow-up to see how they’re doing
“As a law firm, our client’s satisfaction is of utmost importance. Ensuring that our clients are valued, and a top priority is essential. Fighting for their needs remains our objective and in doing so, being successful in their case is the greatest thank you we can offer. However, providing advice and educational tips pro bono via Facebook is another way we extend our appreciation.
Additionally, by sending a follow-up thank you email after subscribing to our newsletter or using our services, we can show our gratitude and maintain a more personal connection. Our concern for our client’s to receive a great experience runs deep. Once a client’s case is resolved, following up to see how they’re doing and requesting feedback further instills our appreciation and value in their business.”
John Berry, CEO, Managing Partner at Berry Law
11. Help customers save money
“As a small business, we are appreciative of customers who have placed their trust in us for fulfilling their transactions. Therefore, we emphasize providing emotional and financial value towards our loyal customers as a means for demonstrating our gratitude towards their confidence in our business.
For instance, in order to demonstrate emotional value to our customers, we send appreciation cards offering discounts for their next purchase. Additionally, once their order is received, we encourage our customers to send us a picture or video of their product in order to recognize and spotlight their profiles across our social media platforms. Furthermore, to express financial value, we include small gifts within our customers’ orders as a token of our appreciation.”
Sadia Ahmed, Founder & CEO at Frontier Blades
12. Check in to make sure quality is up to expectations
“Start by recognizing their purchasing power and follow up with them after the purchase is made. After we get a new customer, my company will always send a follow-up email to confirm the product the customer bought along with a short form they can fill out to give us feedback.
We also reach out to pre-existing customers who have been using our services for a while in order to hear how they are doing and if our products are holding up. This kind of relationship with customers should be important for any business and we wouldn’t have gotten to where we are today without that knowledge.”
Laura Fuentes, Operator at Infinity Dish
13. Offer free, valuable educational materials to your clients
“Running a business is associated with expertise in a particular industry. Sharing this expertise with your customers free of charge is one of the best ways of showing appreciation for them. While information is pretty abundant nowadays with the omnipresent access to the internet, letting them in on your point of view on specific issues in your field of business is pretty invaluable.
For example, you could come up with a course, tutorial, or an eBook full of actionable insights based on cases that have happened during your career and provide it to your customers for free. I believe that it’s the best form of thanking your clients, as you enable them to grow. With that strategy in place, your word-of-mouth marketing’s results will skyrocket, as people will recommend you to their entrepreneur friends left and right. Especially if you can give them value.”
Neal Taparia, Top Forbes Contributor, Co-Founder at Solitaired
Conclusion
A lot of people neglect the importance of saying thank you. And when you send a thank you note, it’s like the finishing touches on a cake. The fact that they haven’t done anything in their mind to deserve such appreciation will give them the belief that they made the right choice, and it will always impress because it’s so unexpected these days.
If you found this article helpful, don’t be afraid to share the content. Saying “thank you” is a part of success!
