Write a Thank You Letter to a Customer

No matter what kind of business you have, expressing gratitude to your customers is a great way to foster strong relationships and keep people coming back. Every thank-you letter you write should be unique, so there's no real template to follow, but there are guidelines you can keep in mind to make sure your letter hits the mark. If you want to know how to write a great thank-you letter to show appreciation to your customers, keep reading.

Steps

Composing the Letter

  1. Spell the customer's name correctly in the salutation. An abundance of market research has found that almost all customer-centered messaging is nearly entirely ineffective if the customer's name is not spelled correctly. It's critically important to make sure that the spelling that a customer uses is what appears at the head of a customer thank-you letter.
  2. Identify the reason for the thank-you note. Make it as specific as possible. Saying something as simple as "thanks for your purchase" is fine, but it's helpful to identify what the customer ordered and how it was delivered. This helps to orient the reader back into his or her unique relationship with your business.
    • This is your time to be as sincerely thankful as possible. Adding a few lines that reference a conversation you had with the customer is appropriate.
    • Do your best to avoid sounding rote, or making it seem like the same thank-you note is going out to a hundred people.
  3. Include a few follow-up lines. A customer thank you letter is an appropriate time to ask some basic follow-up questions to make sure the customer feels that his or her needs are served. Good customer follow-up often keeps customers coming back and increases the bottom line of a business. You don't have to be too involved with this kind of follow-up in a thank you note, but being attentive to customer needs is a major part of serving the public.
    • Mention that you hope the customer is happy with his or her purchase, and that you're available if he or she has any questions or concerns.
    • Ask the customer whether there's anything you can do to increase his or her satisfaction.
  4. Include your brand. It's almost always helpful to present the company name, logo or other branding information in the customer thank you document. Again, this re-emphasizes visibility for the business.
    • If you're writing your thank-you note on a card, be sure to mention your business name.
    • If your thank-you note is written on letterhead, your company logo will be visible, so it's not necessary to mention your name in the letter.
    • If your thank-you note is in the form of an email, your company name and logo should appear beneath your signature.
  5. Use the right closing. It should be in keeping with your established relationship with the customer and the personality you want to project for your business. For example, "sincerely," which is sometimes overly formal, can be replaced with "take care" or a similarly informal sounding sign-off if appropriate. Other business-oriented sign-offs are also popular for making these documents sound personal.
  6. Sign the letter by hand. If at all possible, use your own signature to close the letter. Bigger businesses often struggle with the idea of how to make a form letter seem personal. Even a computer drafted signature is often better than a typed name, in that it makes the letter appear to have been sent personally.

Striking the Right Tone

  1. Resist the temptation to pitch your business again. You're writing the letter to thank your customer for doing business with you, so it's no longer necessary to subject the person to advertising. Assume good rapport at this point. Make the customer feel like an insider.[1]
    • Phrases like "we hope to do business with you again soon" sound like tag lines; best to leave these out. Don't say something you wouldn't say to an acquaintance.
    • Don't include a product pitch, a mention of an upcoming sale, or anything else that could be construed as an ad.
  2. Mail the letter with a real postage stamp. Even if you're mailing dozens of letters, it's better not to use a postage machine. That's a giveaway that this thank-you note is one of many, and it will make the customer feel less special. In fact, it may mean your thank-you note will end up in the junk mail pile.
  3. Address the letter by hand if possible. Again, the more personalized you make the thank-you note, the better it will be received. If you don't have time to address envelopes, have someone else do it. Even if you're not the person actually writing out the address, the customer will be impressed to see handwriting.
  4. Provide your contact information and be open to communication. Make sure your phone number and address are included in the correspondence, and give the customer warm encouragement to get in touch for any reason. If your customer does contact you, be ready to meet his or her needs promptly.

Getting the Format Right

  1. Write the letter by hand. Printing out a standard form letter is akin to sending your customer an advertisement flyer. Instead of making your customer feel special and appreciated, it might have the opposite effect and cause annoyance. Plan to write out thank-you notes individually in your own handwriting.
    • If you have too many thank-you notes to write to be able to write each one out by hand yourself, ask another employee to help you out. It really will be worth the time it takes to write out letters individually.
    • If it's impossible to write the notes by hand, you'll need to find a different way to personalize them. At the very least, the customer's name and your true signature should be included in each thank you letter.
    • In some cases it might be appropriate to write a thank-you email, rather than sending a handwritten note. This can be appropriate when you have an established personal relationship with the customer. The key is to make sure it's personalized and sincere. If there's any chance your email could be mistaken for an advertisement, send a handwritten note instead.
  2. Choose stationery for your thank-you letter. Both thank-you cards and company stationery are appropriate for a business thank-you letter. If you have just a few notes to write, an elegant thank-you card, such as the kind you buy in a stationery shop, will make your customers feel that they are a top priority. Otherwise, use heavy-weight paper printed with your company's letterhead.
    • Avoid using regular printer paper for a thank-you letter.
    • Choose thank-you cards that would be appropriate to send in any business setting. If your business is quirky and fun, it's fine to use colorful cards that represent your company the way you want it to be represented. Avoid using cards with inappropriate or overly personal images or messages.
  3. Consider sending a gift. If you want to go even further to express your appreciation, you can send a small gift along with your note. This is not at all necessary, but for special customers it might be just the right thing. The gift should be small and useful. It can be representative of the services offered by your business, or something unrelated to your business but professional in nature.[2]
    • Small gift ideas include bookmarks, magnets, candy, a t-shirt, or a gift certificate.
    • The gift should not exceed a $25 - $50 value. Some companies have ethics policies that actually disallow them from accepting expensive gifts.

Sample Thank You Letters

Doc:New Customer Appreciation Letter,Business Thank You Letter

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Sources and Citations

  1. ↑ http://www.mbahro.com/News/tabid/110/entryid/120/Business-Thank-You-Letter-Samples.aspx
  2. ↑ http://www.businesswritingblog.com/business_writing/2006/11/thanksgiving_th.html
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