Has a business ever thanked you in such a way that it simply WOWed you? A friend of mine recently shared the following thank you story from an online business.
Real World Story: “Hi Barbara. I just ordered two patches from Patch Panel, and I received one of the best business thank yous that I’ve ever seen. I thought you’d appreciate the inventiveness and customer service aspects. All the best, Mark J. Lucas, DTM.”
He also sent along the email from Patch Panel, and yes indeed, it is one of the most creative thank yous that I too have ever seen.
So just about now you may be thinking, so what was so special about the thank you, Barbara?
I’m glad you asked!
But before we get into that, let’s look at the standard thank yous you mostly receive. And I bet they go something like this: Thank you for your order, (customer name)! We appreciate your business. And in between the thank you and appreciation sentiment, you have the order number, what you ordered, how much you paid, date of sale, and on and on. Pretty standard stuff—am I right?
Well, the email that Patch Panel sent Mark was nothing like that. It was, instead, a short story. It opens with the service rep belting out, “Mark Lucas just made an order!” Then the company sales rep falls to his knees, exclaiming, “I’ve finally made a connection with Mark; I’m so excited for what this means.” The story continues with other staff members having similar reactions that include air horns, strobe lights, and confetti. The short story ends by letting Mark know that as soon as the celebration aftermath is cleaned up, his order will be shipped to him shortly thereafter.
After such a memorable thank you like this, you too can’t help but smile. And that, my friends, is what a thank you is all about!
Strategies that Turn it Around:
- Be Creative. Think outside the usual “thank you” and “we appreciate your business” model. And it doesn’t have to be anything new, fancy, and technologically evolutionary. After all, the short story dates back to the 1790s.
- Be Different. Maybe your industry already does creative thank yous, and every other company uses a variation on that same idea. Maybe it’s time to get out of whatever everyone else is already doing and just be different.
Remember: If you’ve been following me for a while, you’ve already heard me say it a thousand times: people want to feel special! So what better way to make your customers feel special than to thank them in creative and different ways that leave them WOWed!
What do you do to ensure that your thank yous to customers are what others are talking about and writing about?