Did you know that Thank You emails, cards and promotions can help you achieve more sales or fundraising? Try these tips to use Thank You’s for customer retention and to grow your positive reputation online. Whether your business is service, retail or non-profit. Thank You’s let your customers and potential clients and donors know that you are grateful for their referrals, while also being thankful for the business or organization growth that they have helped you achieve.
Tip 1: Send out a Thank You to let your past and potential customers and donors know that you recognize their contributions to your company’s or organization’s success this year. Connect on a personal level by recognizing their contribution to your success and that you value their support and loyalty. Remember that competitors will be reaching out to them hoping to lure them away from your business. Thank you’s are a great way to protect your contacts from being poached.
Tip 2: Use a Thank You offer. One of the most successful promotions that companies use is providing a coupon or incentive offer right after a customer purchases something. Strategize a promotion or event where you are giving back to your clients with a special offer that is only available to them. Consider adding a coupon or special offer they can choose to forward to their friends as a gift. Consider starting a customer loyalty program where past customers can gain benefits as they increase their purchases with your company. Make sure to show that they are receiving this offer as a Thank You for their loyalty and support.
Tip 3: Send a Thank You email that doubles as market research. Thank your customers and show that you are aware that they have a choice of service providers and that you want to do all you can to earn their business. Ask them to take a poll or survey to show how you can better help them in the future. Ask about products or services they would like to see added to your company’s offerings. Then add a link where they can review your company online using the review site you prefer (Google, Yelp, Facebook or other website review sites). Make sure to provide the link where they can easily review your organization.
Tip 4: Before you design a Thank You promotion, talk to your staff about the best gifts or incentives to keep your customers and contacts happy. Your front desk and sales team know the most about what gets your customers excited. Then, create a special promotion for your past customers and donors. Offer them something that says, “You’re special to us,” something you do not offer new contacts. Create an exclusive Thank You for that target group alone and be sure to track those who take advantage of the offer. Analytics will show you if the promotion is working or needs tweaking.
Tip 5: Give your staff and administration the freedom to brainstorm with you about what to do this month to build on what you did last year, and to create a unique experience that is a step above what your competition is doing. Again, be sure to use a Thank You format and offer free gift wrapping, a holiday card (online or by mail), free shipping or an additional bonus gift for multiple purchases or achieving a certain purchase size. Also remember to thank your staff and admins since they are the reputation of your organization. It is important to recognize their contributions and to ensure they are your biggest fans. See what you can do to make their holidays brighter.
Find The Right Media Mix To Achieve Your Growth Goals
If you want to expedite your Thank You’s using email marketing tools, consider using a template-based, user-friendly application that tracks and adds contacts to your CMS and Email Marketing database automatically, click here to try Constant Contact which provides trackable Email Marketing, Landing Page creation, SMS Text Marketing, Social Posting and simple Website Pages. If you need help with your marketing strategy or setting up your marketing plan, contact Tailor-Made Advertising here or call them at 310-791-6300 to keep your organization thriving.
Liz Harsch is the owner of Tailor-Made Advertising in Torrance, CA. Her firm provides marketing, training and consulting to identify marketing and media alternatives for business owners. As an experienced Marketing Director, Media Planner, Liz has trained small business owners for Constant Contact, SCORE, SBDC, SBA, Cities, MWD and County outreach partners plus many Chambers of Commerce for over 25 years. She can be reached at her Torrance, CA, office at 310-791-6300 or by email at liz@adteamla.com. You can also see her upcoming training workshops calendar at http://bit.ly/workshopscal
