Thank You, More Please!

Have you ever noticed that when you say "Thank You", you seem to get more? Sometimes it's just a smile from a customer you just helped or perhaps it's waitress who is a bit more attentive to your order. You'll notice the more you say thank you, the more you receive.  Appreciating what is given to you opens up the possibility to get more. Want more? Say thank you more often! Want more orders at your flower shop? Sure, we all do!

At our shop we've developed a pretty cool direct mail marketing campaign that  works. If someone is a brand new customer and not found in our data base, right off the bat, they are assigned a customer number along with a record of their transaction.  Once a week we run a report of the brand new customers. Each one gets a personal letter, signed by me as the owner, thanking them for being a new customer. Sent within a week of their order we include their customer number, information about our shop and a gift certificate good for $10 worth of product. When was the last time someone sent you a personal letter thanking you for being a customer? Did you think direct mail was dead? Think again, because we get a great response from these letters. Let's face it, our product is a bit of commodity and it's hard to stand out. Chances are people find you online, place their order but then forget your name. E-mail them later? Of course but the letter stands out. It sets you apart!

With us, the thank you does not end there. Each time someone reorders from our shop we send them a postcard. "Thank You"!! it says and gives them a $5.00 discount to use via the phone or online on their next floral purchase. These cute, affordable cards give us one of our best returns. Sent within a week of their purchase while the thank you from the grateful recipient is fresh in their mind. Flowers as a gift? It's easy and we are there to remind them of that fact.

Lastly, don't forget to instruct your sales staff to say thank you at the end of every transaction. I rememeber when we started a mystery shopping campaign with our staff. We were appauled at how few actually said thank you to the customer. Our staff are now trained to say "Thank you for ordering from us" or "Thank you so much for your order" and let me tell you, it's not easy to get them to say. It's funny how resistant we are to thank each other and it shouldn't be. We all want more. Why not make it "Thank You, More Please"!

P.S. This blog was inspired by a movie that Kevin and I saw at the Sundance Film Festival called Happythankyoumoreplease. When the audience asked Director Josh Radnor what inspired the name of the film (we had not yet seen it) he said that he was inspired by someone who told him once that with the simple words of thank you, a person could expect more abundance in their life. Simple: Say thank you and people give you more. Although I saw many movies that week, this one stuck with me.  I hope you not only enjoy this blog but go see the movie!