How Many Times Should We Say Thanks?

Marketing research often points out that customers like and remember being thanked for their purchase. Now that we all know (I hope we all know!) that finding and keeping customers is all about building relationship, we might wonder how often we need to thank someone if they purchase from us over and over again.

Well, the answer is “you can’t say thank you enough,” and here are a few stories to underscore that fact. I spent Thanksgiving Day with a life-long friend (www.bobgifford.com) who is an A-list realtor. Were we talking business? Of course! He and I have been entrepreneurial since we rescued old, cast-off copy machines from schools, reworked them, and sold them to churches around Huntsville. But back to the point – his customer relationship program prompts him to thank or “touch” each and every client 33 times a year. That, along with his creativity and focus, makes Bob the successful businessman he is. Thirty-three times – even I was impressed with that number!

In my decade-old massage therapy business I’ve long made it a point to say thanks as every single client walks out the door – no matter that I see many of the same people week after week, month after month, year after year. (Some of my massage clients have had the same standing appointment time for nine years or longer now.) Last year just before Christmas a client called – someone I had not seen in several years. She wanted to come by and purchase ten hours of massage therapy as gift certificates for friends. At the end of our call she told me that she came to my business for the 10 gift certificates because she knew I would thank her for the purchase – something she didn’t think a nearby local spa would do. This woman remembered my simple “thank you” for several years and that alone drove a substantial purchase.

Along with simply being good manners, reaching out to touch someone with a word of thanks keeps us in the energy of gratefulness. And from a business perspective, those times we touch someone with a kind word helps drive our business to top-of-mind awareness (TOPA). TOPA most definitely helps your business thrive.

Oh, and thank you for reading this!