Saying thanks. . .

Within a business there are frequent occasions when a word of thanks is appropriate - and I’ll be giving you my thanks a little later in this post. But first, I want to tell you about an inspired way of saying ‘thank you’ that makes your company more memorable, whether the thanks are to customers, business colleagues or a member of staff.

Many business owners are astute enough to realise that expressing thanks for business; for referrals and recommendations; for a job well done by a supplier; for an excellent result achieved by an employee is good business practice. It is also a canny marketing activity; showing you appreciate your clients and the support they give by buying from you.

How you express your thanks gives a different perception of your company; it’s where attention to detail counts. So what are the ways you can show your appreciation - and how can you do it successfully without it becoming a burden on your budget or time?

• Send an ordinary email of thanks - this doesn’t take much time and is certainly better than not doing anything; but I don’t think it will really make you stand out

• Organise an impressive e-card (take a look at http://www.jacquielawson.com). These are beautiful animated e-cards, but if the person you are thanking has a spam filtering system in place the notification email may not reach him (or her) or he may not collect the card - it does need some effort on his part.

• Give a small gift of thanks - depending upon what you are expressing appreciation of, that may be appropriate.

• Write a personal letter of thanks. This does take more effort and for some people it can take considerable time, thinking of how to word the letter. Not everyone is comfortable about putting their thoughts into writing.

• Snail-mail a postcard. Although this is a little different, it’s not very private and may not be appropriate in certain circumstances.

• Post a ‘Thank You’ greeting card - this is the inspired method I want to tell you more about. You see, at first glance it may seem as though it takes as much effort, if not more, than some of the suggestions above. But I found a brilliant website that sends a high quality card, complete with your personal message. The cards are sent from the US but, with the current exchange rates, the postage equates to little more than it would cost to send from the UK.

There is an incredible choice of card designs and the whole process takes just a couple of minutes. Take a look at http://www.sendoutcards.com where, for those extra special occasions, they can even add a gift (but before you do that, have a look at my ‘Thank You’ message below). I tested this service myself and can definitely confirm the high quality of the card that is supplied.

Marketing Thought: if you decide to use these cards as an alternative way of delivering your marketing message then the foreign postage frank may act in your favour if you are sending to UK addresses. It may intrigue your prospect enough to open the envelope - which is the first step we are aiming to achieve. It is something that might be worth testing.

My Thanks to You

I have two Thank You’s to say:

First: I’d like to say Thank You for the questions that have been sent in. There have been some very interesting topics brought up. Some of the questions have already been posted with answers, others - that are available for ‘public view’ - will be added over the next week or so.

The questions have now been sent over to Ed for his independent selection of the best one submitted. Whoever sent in the winning question gets the prize I offered in Monday’s post.

If you sent a question in, look out for the judge’s choice in a post later this week.

Second: Even if you didn’t have a question you wanted answering, the support you show by visiting, reading and recommending my blog is really appreciated. Which is why I’m always looking out for more information or resources that will help you in your business. That’s why I suggested visiting the SendOutCards website.

And whilst looking, one of the distinct advantages of interacting on the web is you come across some very nice people. And Martin Russell is one of those (check out his Word of Mouth Magic blog, it’s listed in the blog roll).

Martin has very generously said that visitors from this blog can test out 3 cards from his SendOutCards service at his expense. This gives you the opportunity to experience the service and test the quality for yourself. Simply go to Martin’s Offer (http://www.WordofMouthMagic.com/card)

What other ways of saying ‘Thank You’ have you used or experienced? Will you use the comment (it may show as No Comments to start) link below to share ideas with other readers? Thanks.

~ Carol Bentley