Have you ever visited a business that makes you feel like you’re the most important person in the room? Take a minute to think about what they did differently to make you feel special and create a positive experience.

As a business owner, you want to show appreciation to your supporters and add a personal touch. One of the best ways to do this is by writing business thank you messages to customers.

We’ll discuss why customer appreciation is important and review best practices for writing a thank you note. We’ll also provide you with examples of professional thank you notes.

You can either keep reading or click on any of the links below to jump to the section that interests you:

Why Is Customer Appreciation Important?

Thanking customers is an important part of customer service. Saying thank you is a polite way of acknowledging that they chose you instead of your competitors. Plus, according to Steady Pace, 86% of people say that they will spend more money with and tell their friends about a business that provides great customer service.

Nowadays, the steady growth of online interactions makes it easier to automate saying thank you to customers. Each of these touchpoints is a chance to show customers appreciation by including a thank you message:

• Customer signs up for a first-time customer promotion in exchange for their email
• Customer purchases a product or service
• Company ships the product or heads to the customer’s location
• Customer receives the product or service
• Customer evaluates the product or service
• Company sends promotional offers

Thank You Message Best Practices

There are some easy ways to make customers feel appreciated by including a thank you note in your communications:

• Use the customer’s name: Personalize each email in the greeting.
• Be positive: Let your customer know you’re thankful for their business. You might thank them for placing an order before letting them know when you plan to ship their items.
• Be professional but friendly: Your thank you message should be conversational without sounding too formal.
• Provide information: Give customers the information they need to follow along with their order. Provide links as needed.
• Don’t upsell: A thank you note isn’t the time to attempt to make more money.
• Be concise: Keep all communications short. Most emails are under 200 words.
• Request feedback: Once you’ve fully delivered the product or service, ask for a review in the final thank you message. Make sure that the customer has had enough time to form an honest opinion.

Examples of Thank You Notes

Next, we’ll look at different situations when you might want to send a thank you note.

Thank You for Booking Us

It’s a good idea to send a thank you message after a customer books an appointment. Consider some of these options to thank your customer while confirming an appointment:

Thank You for Shopping With Us

An online store might send thank you messages to customers who created an account but didn’t make a purchase. The thank you note might look like this:

Thank You for Choosing Us

When a customer makes a purchase or fills out a survey, you might send a thank you message to show your appreciation. Consider some of the templates below:

Thank You for the Feedback

You’ll want to send appreciation messages when a customer provides feedback by leaving a review, answering surveys, or sending referrals. The thank you message might look like the one below:

Thank You for Your Order

You can provide an excellent customer experience by thanking your customers when they place an order. Your thank you note should look similar to this:

Thank You for Your Patronage

Many small businesses hold grand openings or open houses where members of the community can check out the location and offerings. They will normally have a sign-up sheet or another way of collecting customers’ information. Consider some of these thank you note ideas when someone comes to your business location:

Thank You for Your Purchase

When a customer buys something from your business, you’ll want to send a confirmation email that says something like the thank you message below:

Thank You for Supporting My Small Business

Customers feel valued when a business owner thanks them for their support. Consider sending one of these messages to say thanks:

Business Thank You Messages to Customers

Want some quick thank you messages to send to customers? Try using some of these email messages to help your audience feel like valued customers:

If your customers prefer texts, it’s easy to shorten your thank you messages:

Pro Tip: There are some industries where customer loyalty means seeing them as rarely as possible. For instance, homeowners don’t want to see an HVAC company for more than routine maintenance. Make sure you don’t use phrases like see you soon if it would imply that you didn’t do the job right the first time.

Recognize Loyal Customers

To build customer loyalty, you might want to classify customers into different groups such as:

• Potential customers: This group includes people who have provided their contact information but haven’t bought anything from you. You might want to thank them for reaching out and provide a discount for future purchases.
• New customers: You could send a special gift along with your thank you note when someone makes a first purchase from your small business.
• Repeat customers: When someone makes repeat purchases, consider offering them perks like coupons for a free item or special discounts. You may also want to enroll them in an affiliate program where they can earn discounts for helping you build new customer relationships.
• High-value customers: Other strategies to thank your most-valued customers include having a dedicated support person, sending them holiday gifts, and offering them first access to new products or services.
• Difficult customers: Running a business means dealing with difficult customers sometimes. It’s always a good idea to thank them to see if you can turn a bad experience into a positive one. At the same time, you might want to put a warning in your customer relationship management (CRM) system or even exclude them from new campaigns.

Thank You to Potential Customers

Consider sending an appreciation message like the ones below when someone provides their contact information:

Thank You to New Customers

Thank a Loyal Customer

Expressing gratitude to your loyal customers is a great way to make them feel appreciated. Put in a little extra effort when you’re reaching out to these customers:

Thank a High-Value Customer

Remember to send a thank you to customers who spend lots of money with your business. It doesn’t matter if they’re first-time customers or long-term customers. Your high-value customers can often refer you to friends or family with similar shopping habits.

How to Write Thank You Notes

You’ll want to include the following elements when writing thank you notes:

1. Include a personalized greeting.
2. Communicate your gratitude with specific examples.
3. Recap any information from the previous interaction.
4. Add any new thoughts or information.
5. End with a polite and professional closing.

Step #1. Include a Personalized Greeting

Building personal connections can be as simple as including a customer’s name in your message. If you had a meaningful connection with the customer, make sure to mention that interaction when sending thank you messages.

Step #2. Communicate Your Gratitude With Specific Examples

When you write a thank you note, include customer-specific information to show your appreciation. Business messages are often sent through a CRM system. That means you can program them to include information like the actual product or service instead of sending a generic message.

Doesn’t it sound more personal to say, “Thank you for allowing us the opportunity to refurbish your couch”?

Step #3. Recap Any Information From the Previous Interaction

In your thank you note, reiterate information that helps the customer make the most of your product or service. This could include providing them with written information about maintenance and upkeep. For instance, you might want to remind customers how long they need to wait to walk on a carpet after a cleaning.

Step #4. Add Any New Thoughts or Information

After recapping important details, add in any new information you want to share with your customers. Once you know a customer feels valued, you’ll also want to request a review.

Step #5. End With a Polite and Professional Closing

Once you’ve communicated your genuine gratitude and provided information to your customers, you’ll want to thank them again and sign off. Include your name, position, and contact information in your closing.

Ways to Send a Business Thank You Note

The three main ways to thank your customers are through email, text message, and written notes.

Customer Emails

Customer emails are the easiest way of thanking your customers. They can be automated and personalized using software. They can also be set to be timed for maximum impact.

Thank You Text Messages

Most people send texts to customers manually. Although there is software to automate text messaging, it’s typically more expensive than sending emails. Meanwhile, thank you notes sent by text are more likely to be seen.

Handwritten Notes

When you want to thank your customers in an even more personal way, you can write a thank you letter. Using a printed thank you note is acceptable, but that’s not as personal as sending customers a handwritten note.

You might want to use a printed note to remind customers when seasonal services or tuneups are due.

Conclusion

Sending customized thank you notes will help you build brand loyalty and show your appreciation to customers.

We discussed why small business thank you notes are important and reviewed best practices for thanking your customers. Then we provided business thank you note examples for different scenarios. We also explored various ways to send notes to your customers.

What type of thank you note works best for your business? Let us know in the comments below.