Auntie Kate The Resale Expert

I write a monthly column called Growing Your Business for the NARTS newsletter. One of them was about being a customer who should have gotten a thank-you note but who didn’t, and the not-so-good taste it left in my mouth.

In response to that column, Kerri asked a good question:

I have question for you Kate–how do we decide WHO to send a thank you to–whether it be a gift, a card, a gift card, etc? With an average of around 40-50 sales per day depending on the time of year, how do I decide who to write to? As you said, your purchase might not have been the biggest sale of the day, but it would still be nice to receive something. Any words of wisdom greatly appreciated–thanks!!

My thoughts on the ROI (Return On Investment) of thank-you notes follows. After all, we can’t write thank-you notes to everyone, so where will it be most meaningful, both to your clientele and to your profit margin?

I’d suggest that you send a short note to one or 2 of the most “involved” shoppers you had that day. Someone who really was enthusiastic, someone who was searching for a special piece, someone you or a staffer were able to spend some time with. You want to further their enthusiasm and enjoyment of your shop and sweeten their memory. It’s also fun to send a note if you find that cake recipe you were chatting about, or later, if you see his son won an award at school… these notes don’t always have to be specifically “thanks for coming in/ shopping/ buying“)

Thanks to The Affordable Shop in KY for this fun graphic!

Of course, this involves several things: that you have their name and address (many shopkeepers have gotten lackadaisical about keeping a snail mail list since they feel email addie should do it and of course, most times it does, but a physical address list is important too!) AND keeping a record of who you sent TY notes to! (You don’t wanna send 6 to the same person in a year… that would seem kinda stalker-ish nowadays 🙂 ) It would be fun to have shop-branded stationery for this too, if that’s doable in your advertising busget. Here’s a graphic that might firt in with your shop image.

A gift or gift card, I’d think, would be only for those who truly “treated” themselves. In the examples I used, the customer (me) had considered the purchases made to be important-to-her purchases… so even if the furniture store thought a $2000 purchase rather average TO THEM it was obvious, from the interaction, that the customer was making an important purchase TO HER and that she was “falling in love” with the store and would more than likely be a repeat customer and a strong outspoken advocate in the community. That’s the customer you want to cultivate, and all it takes is a note, a stamp, and five minutes of your time.

An important point to consider: gift cards do NOT need to be extravagant, and probably should NOT be. In the examples I used in my article, I would have been pleased with a GC in the amount of literally ONE PERCENT of what the landscaping cost. One percent would make zero difference to me or to them… but feeling valued? Priceless. Remember:  It’s the thought that counts!

Thanks for reading my column, Kerri, and thanks for asking a great question!

TGtbT Products for the Professional Resaler has a collection of my columns in The Best of Growing your Business. Order your copy here.