Last June, my gardener knocked on my door. He wanted to shake my hand and tell me thank you for hiring him to cut my grass, trim my bushes and take care of my yard.
He didn’t ask if I wanted to add more services. He wanted to say thank you in person and to let me know that he appreciated that I put my trust in him. He told me he knows there are lots of other people I could hire, and he is thankful for my business.
This kindness reminds me that Thanksgiving is the wrong time to thank your customers for their business. I think there is wisdom in picking a random time during the year, like June seventh, not Thanksgiving or during the holiday season.
Being thankful for the business you receive is best delivered when it is unexpected not when everyone is doing it. We all appreciate an unexpected acknowledgment of appreciation.
Consider how you might feel when on a random day of the year you are shown appreciation without any upsell. Just thanks without any expectations is a wonderful gift to give a customer.
No one wakes up and says, I bet my insurance agent, MailChimp, Best Buy or my chiropractor is going to appreciate me today and show their thanks for my business. The surprise is a powerful marketing approach.
Does your business have a thank you strategy?
I’ll bet your company has financial, marketing and operations plans for 2019. But who owns the responsibility for a thank you plan where you are engaged in random acts of appreciation for customers and clients?
I don’t think this is soft, fluffy stuff.
To me, empathy and gratitude are lacking from many companies. True heartfelt appreciation goes a long way to deepen relationships with customers.
Giving thanks shouldn’t be a shallow act, but something you think about with a strategic lens.
I have a friend who runs a company that has a built-in thank you plan. They have thousands of customers who subscribe to their software.
She and each member of her executive team call one customer per day to say thank you for their business. Her idea was to remind leadership that a direct connection to customers is critical to ongoing success. Each year, the leadership team reaches more than 1,000 customers. Often they just get voice mail but it builds appreciation into the leaderships daily routine.
How can you honestly, deeply and sincerely tell your customers that you appreciate the business they do with your company? By creating a thank you plan you are showing your employees the behavior you want them to exhibit. And if you surprise your customers with thanks, the warm feeling lasts longer.
When I asked my gardener why he chose to say thank you on that particular day, he said that every time he signs up a new customer, he always remembers to say thank you to those who have been loyal customers. Not a bad marketing strategy.
Are you planting a thank you strategy for 2019?
Thank you for reading my blog.
You can set up a time to chat with me about your marketing challenges using my calendar. Email me jeffslater@themarketingsage.com Call me. 919 720 0995. The conversation is free, and we can explore if working together makes sense. Try my new chat feature on my site if you have a quick question.
Photo by Vince Fleming on Unsplash
