Thank you for your business means how a brand or business appreciates its customers from their patronage and can also be called customer appreciation.
Every business owner will agree that a business is only as great as its customers. If you do not have people patronizing you, the business is bound to fail. However, no one prays for their business to crash. Instead, they always pray for customer retention.
Customer retention means hoping that when a person buys from your business, they continue to make a repeat purchase and even recommend your business to their friends and family. Sadly, you will lose half of your customers if you do not carry out customer appreciation.
One thing that many business owners fail to realize is that customer appreciation leads to customer retention. It is why you always need to invest in great customer service and experience if you want your business to grow.
Something as simple as saying thank you with a pleasant smile when someone purchases from your brand usually goes a long way. One thing that all business owners need to realize is that all humans love been seen and appreciated. When people come to patronize you, they like to feel that they have impacted your business.
We are sure that you always hear people say that the customer is king. So, you always have to give them the royal treatment that they deserve. Whether your business is online or physical, customer appreciation always comes in handy.
Once customers begin to feel like the business does not appreciate them, they will patronize other businesses. Now, imagine if fifty of your customers feel this way and decide to patronize your competitors instead. Yes, you can imagine losing money, which may lead to your business’s closure.
So, why don’t you have an accompanying card with all your products that says, thank you for doing business with us? Then, you can add a funny design or concept to the card that will put a smile on their face. You never can tell; such a little action might be what will make a customer keep patronizing your brand.
In business, it is usually the little things that matter. But, unfortunately, many brands make the mistake of doing elaborate activities that do not translate to customer appreciation. Sadly, if these activities do not translate to customer appreciation, you will not get the customer loyalty that your business needs.
Here is a table showing different why brands engage in customer appreciation activities by percentage:
| Reasons | Percentage |
| Customer Loyalty | 50% |
| Promotion of new products | 20% |
| Customer satisfaction | 30% |
From the table above, you can see that brands are sometimes involved in promoting products to their customers. While they strive to give customer satisfaction, their main goal is to ensure customer loyalty as they know that it is what keeps the brand going. Therefore, proving that customer appreciation is important.
Below are some activities you can do to tell your customers to thank you for your business.
Thank You For Your Business Activities
Send Care Packages
Undeniably, sending gift packages to people shows that you care for and appreciate them. It is why we see people getting gift packs during festive seasons like Easter and Christmas. Many brands have also adopted this method with this understanding, and they have begun sending these care packages to their customers.
When you have a database of your customers, knowing their addresses will not be an issue. Now, you can add some everyday essentials and your products as a part of the care packages. Also, do not forget to add a sweet note saying ‘thank you for your business.’
The goal of this care package is to let them know that you see them. Through this, your customers feel that you care about them and satisfy their needs, not only collect their money.
Some people believe that care packages have only to contain expensive items, but this is not true. What matters is that anything in the care package should be useful and solve a need.
Be Proactive
Many people have different meanings that they attach to being proactive. But in this sense, we mean always staying active, so you can tell when your customer has a need to be solved.
As a business owner, you always need to be alert, and that involves following trends. It would be best if you always looked for new ways to meet the needs of your customers. By being proactive, you can seek out these methods.
Now, it is a no-brainer that every business needs a social media page. When you have a social media page, you also need to be proactive. For example, when a customer sends a message of inquiry, it is wrong to leave the message without a response for days. The longest should be some hours. It is best to always have a team on the ground to respond to comments and messages.
When you do this, it shows your customers that you appreciate them and leads to customer loyalty.
Give Out Freebies
When someone has been patronizing your business for a long time, it is somewhere in their subconscious that they should get a discount or even a free product. So yes, you sometimes need to give out freebies to show customer appreciation.
Sadly, some businesses see giving out freebies as a loss. But, on the contrary, it will boost your business as it gives you more publicity. For example, if someone gets a free product from your brand, they are sure to announce it to everyone around them, helping you do word-of-mouth advertising.
There is no expiration to this advertisement as they will keep talking about that gesture for years to come. It could be that they have never won something from a brand before, so it becomes a big highlight for them. As people keep talking about your brand, more people check out your pages, leading to patronage.
Check Up On Your Customers.
As a business owner, you always need to check up on your customers to ensure that your brand stays top of their minds. One thing you need to understand is that humans have a fickle attention span. Every day, a human is exposed to multiple brands, so you are competing with these brands in their mind space. If you do not regularly check up on your customers, they will forget that your brand exists.
Now, one may be wondering how to check up on their customers. You can do that when you have a mailing list. So, you send regular emails to your customers. These emails can be bi-weekly or monthly.
In the mail, you can talk about your products, give an important industry message, or anything you desire. However, what is important is that you include a warm message that leaves a smile on your face. It is the catchiness of your message that determines if they will continue opening and reading your emails.
Hosting Live Sessions
Did you know that customers love it when they feel like have a personal relationship or communication with the brand owner? It is why you need to host regular live sessions on your social media pages.
Through this, you get to crack and even have inside jokes with your customers. Also, you get to have their honest feedback about your brand and make the necessary improvements. We are not saying that you should have live sessions every time, but it needs to be regular.
By hosting live sessions, you are not only demonstrating customer appreciation, but you are also fostering trust in the minds of your customers. Now that they know the face behind the brand, they are ready to vouch for your brand and its products anytime.
Brand owners need to understand that their customers are their biggest form of advertising, so trust and bond are needed.
FAQs
Here are some of the frequently asked questions about saying thank you for your business:
Is It Correct To Say Thank You For Your Business?
It is both grammatically and ethically correct to say thank you for your business. It is a way of showing appreciation to your customer. It is the same way a sick person will show appreciation to anyone who visits by saying thank you for coming to visit me.
So, the next time anyone patronizes your business, do not forget to say thank you for your business.
What’s Another Way Of Saying Thank You For Your Business?
You can say thank you for your business in many ways, even in your local language. What matters is that the other party understands what you need. You need to understand that communication is a two-way street, so the sender and receiver should speak in a language they both understand.
Sometimes, you can show appreciation by just saying thank you. It is a simple and short way of showing appreciation.
How Do You Say Thank You Professionally?
By saying thank you for your business, you are saying thank you professionally. You can also say thank you professionally by saying, ‘I appreciate your patronage,’ ‘thank you for stopping,’ ‘Accept my sincere appreciation,’ ‘thank you so much, etc.’
Conclusion
A brand is on the right path for growth when it can appreciate its customers. So, start incorporating thank you for your business activities into your branding processes now.
References:
1. https://blog.avochato.com/25-best-business-thank-you-messages
2. https://www.postable.com/blog/5-opportunities-to-write-business-thank-you-cards-that-you-may-be-missing/
Last Updated on February 9, 2022 by
Magalie D. is a Diploma holder in Public Administration & Management from McGill University of Canada. She shares management tips here in MGTBlog when she has nothing to do and gets some free time after working in a multinational company at Toronto.
