Guide to Thanking Your Customers

Just say it

A simple, "Thank you," accomplishes a lot when it comes to customer service. Verbally thank your customers for doing business with you each and every time you see them.

I recommend: Learn to say thanks with The Thank You Book, by Robyn F. Spizman, which includes a thank you thesaurus and devotes an entire chapter to business thank-you's.

Write notes

Send handwritten thank-you notes to customers after they've made a major purchase; enclose a coupon for their next visit as an extra gesture of appreciation.

I recommend: You can purchase professional thank-you cards online from CardsDirect or NISA Business Greeting Cards.

Ask for feedback

Flatter customers — and learn how to better serve them — by asking for their opinions.

I recommend: Following a purchase, build and distribute a survey to find out how your customers' experience could have been better; QuestionPro offers a Customer Satisfaction Survey template and a sample Customer Satisfaction Report, and for a fee will conduct your surveys for you.

Reward loyalty

Identify your most loyal customers — with a membership card, for instance — and thank them for their consistent business with special discounts, promotions or gifts.

I recommend: Loyalty cards can help you identify, track and then thank your most loyal customers. Duracard offers a variety of affordable custom loyalty cards for small businesses.

Share information

Thank customers by keeping them informed. Send reminders about special promotions you're running, notifications about new merchandise you're stocking or newsletters about community events that you're sponsoring.

I recommend: Subscribe to The New York Times or The Wall Street Journal and regularly cut out articles that might interest your customers; doing so keeps you top-of-mind and shows your customers that you value them with unique and personalized service.

Remember special occasions

Show your appreciation for your customers by remembering their birthdays, anniversaries or other special days; send a card or handwritten note and enclose a coupon as a gift.

I recommend: Using QuickBooks Point of Sale: Pro 5.0, you can track customer information easily and quickly; use the seven customizable fields within a customer record to keep track of birthdays and even create labels with which to mail cards.

Recognize referrals

Thank customers for referrals with a handwritten note, a phone call or even a small gift. Reinforcing referrals will encourage your customers to continue sending friends and neighbors your way.

I recommend: Track referrals with Business Contact Manager for Outlook 2003, which lets you identify the source of customer referrals — whether an advertisement, employee or fellow customer — with a special "Referred By" field within your business contacts.