The Power of a ‘Thank You’
About the Author:
Richard Gee
Business Strategist at Geewiz
Richard is a mentor, business coach and small business specialist at solving problems, creating strategy and helping you make great decisions for your business.
A very successful marketing and sales strategy, often overlooked, is the very simple phrase “Thank You” that can be added after a face-to-face visit with a prospect or customer, to the bottom of an email, to the end of a letter, to a text message, or to a proposal.
The “thank you” is for the time – it’s not for the money, and it is simply a very clear message that says you appreciated the time with your customer, you considered their time was valuable, and you really would like to see them again. A follow-up visit or call is much easier when you have already expressed “thank you” at your last visit.
There are many forms of “thank you”. You can send a thank you card (and a good place to source these from is www.paperlesspost.com, which has an extensive range of personalised thank you cards for all sorts of business reasons).
Adding the words “thank you” to your signature emails, or even having a “thank you” paragraph, thanking your clients for their consideration and inviting them to pass on business introductions and business referrals, works very well. Sending “thank you” in a predictive text is a quick and easy way to finish a call, and before you move on to the next one, acknowledge the time you had with your client, and of course in today’s busy texting world people really appreciate the fact that you took the time out to say thanks.
In face-to-face communications, the “thanks for the time” instead of “thanks for your order” wins a lot more friends. Perhaps even saying “thank you” to business associates, colleagues, staff, and other people who are undertaking something special, over and above the budgeted or expected outcomes, will encourage them to repeat the good work.
A “thank you” to a supplier of a service acknowledges to them that you really do value the work they do. This should encourage them to maintain at least the same standard if not better. A “thank you” at Christmas time in the form of Christmas gifts can fall into the ‘easy to remember’ basket, and although the gift may be quickly consumed, the thought is still behind the gift which is the real message.
If you want to stand out from the crowd, think about how you can use the phrase “Thank You” in your everyday communications to make sure that your customers, clients, staff, business associates, and friends appreciate your service.
Business Strategist & Mentor
Geewiz
0800 GEEWIZ
www.geewiz.co.nz or watch videos on www.geewiztv.com
Related Articles
As we head into 2021, consumer facing organisations in New Zealand may be lagging behind a dramatic shift in consumer behaviour.