One of the simplest ways to strengthen your relationship with customers as they progress through your customer journey map is to express genuine appreciation. It’s a simple concept, but surprisingly few businesses ever thank customers for their business.
When it comes to standing out from entrenched competitors, e-commerce businesses must identify their “holy grail” moments of opportunity. There is always another new brand starting every second competing on price is rarely feasible. offer a set of differentiators
Brands that focus on delivering meaningful customer experiences can compete on loyalty and word of mouth, beating the behemoths and carving out their niche.
Thanking clients for their purchases goes a very long way. In fact, 68 percent of businesses have lost a customer because they believe the brand care less about them, and nearly half of consumers believe that customer appreciation is an essential component of providing exceptional care.
Being purposeful and personal when thanking your customers can help showcase the human aspect of your brand, create connections, increase customer lifetime value, and increase customer retention.
What do stats say about customer appreciation?
- On average, 20% of a company’s customers are responsible for 80% of their future profits (theCLIKK 2020), so it makes sense to take care of existing customers
- Satisfied customers spend more on average with less hassle. As you can see from research done by Bain & Company, a 5% lift in retention can increase profits by 25% to 95%.
- 92% of customers consider recommendations from friends and family the most credible forms of advertising, which leads to higher referral rates for your business.
Given the stats above, it is lucid that brands with better customer experiences outperform their competitors.
5 Recipes for writing great thank you messages to customers.
1. Time it right: Mine your customer database for milestones
Saying thank you at the right time skyrockets the effect by 1000%.
Has the customer been with you for a significant amount of time? Is it their CEO or brand’s anniversary? Or maybe they just celebrated a massive product launch and it’s time to show them some love?
Whatever the reason, timing is everything. When executed at the right time, a thank you message can be even more powerful.
If you’re using a CRM, it’s easier to nail the timing and delivery of your thank you. All you need to do is pull up your customer list:
2. Start it on a high
Start your thank you on a positive note. Whether you’re sending a handwritten note or an email, make sure it gives off a positive vibe from the moment it lands in your customer’s inbox (or mailbox). Communicating your sincere gratitude is the key here.
3. Personalise
Give a man a new pen, he writes his name first. He’s that predictable. Today, marketing is no longer mass and the ingredient is incomplete without personalization.
Thrive to obtain valid information about your customer. Shun “Dear Customer” for “Hi John”, resonates better and feels welcoming.
Be prepared to give out enough to obtain this personal information.
In online marketing, free eBooks, free webinars, email courses, cheat sheets, checklists, and coupons are common bait for customers’ email addresses.
Personalizing your thank you message is the easiest way to make it more genuine. Personalization can increase sales by a whopping 56%. An example is something like “Thanks for being an awesome customer, (customer’s name).”
4. Solidify your future relationship
Next, say that you’re looking forward to continuing your working relationship with the customer.
This reinforces that you appreciate them as a customer, which means you’ll do what it takes to keep their business over the long term.
5. Hit them with another thank you
Keep it simple. Your sign-off is a chance to add a last bit of personalization to the thank you.
Don’t just say “thank you for your business.” It’s impersonal, and the opposite of the genuine. Remember the goal is to strengthen your relationship, not just about continuing a simple business transaction.
Finish your thank you message off with something short and sweet like “Thanks again for a great first year together — looking forward to many more to come!”
5 ways to send thank you messages to customers
While creative planning and smart decision-making set the stage for delight, at the end of the day, you still need a few simple ideas to act on.
If you’re in need of a little inspiration, here are six ways you can spread gratitude around. We’ll also share a few examples of businesses that go the extra mile for their customers.
- Send handwritten thank you notes
- Create personal connections with video
- Provide free gifts or samples
- Offer post-purchase discounts
- Spotlight your customers
1. Send handwritten thank you notes
This is a tried and true way to thank your customers. Writing a personalized thank you note shows that there’s a human involved behind the scenes and behind the screen.
Thank you notes are effective because they’re a bit of a lost art. Think about the last time you sent a handwritten letter instead of quickly firing off an email or a Facebook message. Those mediums allow for incredible efficiency, but a handwritten card goes beyond the ephemeral nature of our digital inboxes and creates something tangible and meaningful.
2. Create personal connections with video
If you want to take things a step further, try recording a personalized thank you video for your customers. The great part of videos is that it’s impossible to fake being personal. The customer knows how much time you’ve really put in.
Largely because they are time-consuming, personalized videos appear to be incredibly thoughtful. Send videos as part of a post-purchase follow-up or as a whole distinct contact. Videos are especially useful for special occasions and holidays when the theme allows for some creativity.
3. Offer post-purchase discounts
Customers love brands that cut them great deals. Whether it is giveaways, splash sales, or discount sales. Giving your customers a reason to buy increases revenues, brand awareness, customer base, and loyalty.
People share information that excites them. If your offers are jaw-breaking and truly irresistible, they will not act as a magnetic force that attracts sales, it will also attract new and loyal customers.
Rewarding loyal customers with discounts and coupons are a great way to keep them coming back while thanking them for their patronage. Although you have to be careful with discounts, as they can train customers to wait for deals, sending a discount to a new customer is usually a cost-effective way to get them to return and make another purchase.
4. Spotlight your customers
Showcasing your customers is a great way to publicly share how much you appreciate them.
Mention their handles in your posts, this goes a long way in creating customer bonds. One of the best ways to curate content you can spotlight your customers for is to create a hashtag that customers can use on their own posts. From there you can repost.
5. Host Lotteries
Customers thirst to go for a trip to Maldives, All expenses Paid. It can be your strategy to choose the lucky one every year.
Customers crave dream cars, how about you buy them one? Think of creative ways to reward customers at scale.
All of these require a huge budget, correct. However, you start on a small scale and invite customers for seminars, lectures, anniversaries, parties, and any event that will include housing and feeding them. Clothes them (consider branded vests).
A thank you goes a long way
Winning big in business begins with the clear awareness that the customer is everything. If the customers are with you, no force can go against your business.
Give your customers a whole new way to discover and shop your products. Reach new markets, excite shoppers with coupons, and make sales while you sleep. Create your e-commerce website with Kitcart within 5 minutes it’s free.
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