 
By Jeffrey Dobkin
Think about it. When was the last time you received a letter thanking you for your business? It’s been that long, huh?
Saying “Thank you!” can be one of your best marketing campaigns. What better way to reach out to your existing clients? And the best way to thank customers and friends for their business is with a letter. No, no, no. Don’t give me, “Oh yeah, I called them and thanked them.” A call is not the same. You see, after you’ve hung up the phone, you cease to exist.
But a letter? That’s different. You took the time—your valuable time—to write to them, and it shows. You composed your thoughts and actually put them down on a piece of paper. Imagine that! Then you found an envelope and a stamp (no small feat around my own office), married them and put the whole deal in the mail.
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| Even if you mail a million letters, spend the extra nickel to make your letter look so personal that the recipient thinks he is the only one receiving it. |
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Now, your customer has a personal letter of thanks sitting on his desk right in front of him. Unlike your phone call, that little piece of goodwill can sit on his desk for quite a while. And it will remind him: “Hey, what a nice letter this is! Wow, they really are grateful for my business. I’ll go back there!”
More ways to say thanks
So, do you need some other ways to say thanks? How about a card? You’re diligent about sending holiday cards, but that’s really not the best time to send a card because yours is just one of the pack. Pick another holiday, such as July 4th, Memorial Day or Halloween. Your card will stand out and be appreciated.
I personally like to send customers a card with the change of time to Daylight Savings Time (that would be April 2, 2006—hint, hint) and back. You can handwrite “This is a reminder to set your clock back …” as a personal note on the bottom and send the card as a reminder. Everyone will like that, and yours will be the only card in their mail that day. I guarantee it.
A thank-you letter or card works hard as a marketing tool. Thanking clients for their business can lead to referrals. And when you thank people for their referrals, they say, “Wow, they really appreciated that referral. What nice folks! We’ll keep our mind open and try to refer some more customers to them.”
Here’s the trick: Even if you mail a million letters, spend the extra nickel to make your thank-you letter really look personal. Make it look so personal that the recipient thinks he is the only one receiving it. No clunky FIM bars—those funny-looking marks for automating mail—or pre-addressed labels. This campaign will bring you more business, increase branding, foster relationships and build loyalty.
Top 7 ideas
If you need more ideas on how to thank customers, here are my top tips:
- “No charge.” Underpromise and overdeliver. Do just a little bit more, write it up with your regular bill and add “no charge” in small print. It’ll get noticed.
- Call people back promptly. Even if it’s just to acknowledge you received their call and you’ll get back to them in depth later, it will make people feel appreciated.
- Remember who you’re in business for. Where would you be without your clients? Ever go into a retail store and the salesperson acts as if he is doing you a favor? That is not polite. The same is true for financial advisors. Thank your clients for their business, every time.
- Look them in the eye. Face people and smile when you say thanks. This lets your clients know it’s not an afterthought.
- Add “Thank you very much!” to letters and correspondence. “Thanks” and “I appreciate it” are a nice touch in any correspondence.
- Gifts can be appropriate. A low-key, thank-you gift is always nice. In our own business practice, we send pens to clients—personalized with their names on it—to thank them for referring us to other clients. Of course, the pens draw their attention to the content of the thank-you letter they are included with. The letter is the real star, the pen just punctuates it. Gifts can be dicey, though. Once, I thanked a writer for authoring a wonderful story about our business and sent her our customary thank-you pen with her name on it. Her editor intercepted the pen, and sent it back with a terse note saying their writers aren’t allowed to accept gifts, however small. That’s not the point of giving gifts, but it’s better to know ahead of time if there’s a policy in place.
- The thank-you letter. We went over this already, but it really is my No. 1 way of thanking someone: a simple letter saying nothing but thanks. It’s inexpensive to create and shows your appreciation. Your clients could go somewhere else. Don’t ever forget that other firms call your best clients.
Jeffrey Dobkin is a speaker, copywriter and direct-marketing consultant in Wynnewood, Pa. His most recent book, Uncommon Marketing Techniques, contains many practical ideas to help you reach out to prospects. He can be reached at 610-642-1000, or visit www.dobkin.com.
APRIL 2006
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