How Do You Make a Great Impression Last?

When was the last time a business thanked you for your custom?

Not a receipt. Not an automated booking confirmation. Not a request to leave a five-star review.

I mean a genuine thank you.

A friend of mine recently held a family function at home and ordered a large number of pizzas from Domino’s.

On the Monday, the local Domino’s franchisee picked up the phone and called him.

He thanked my friend for the business and said that if he ever had another function, or needed a large number of pizzas in the future, he should call him directly so he could personally look after the order.

How good is that?

It was a simple phone call. No expensive promotion. No discount voucher. Just someone taking the time to say thank you and letting a customer know that their business was appreciated.

And I suspect my friend will remember that call the next time he needs pizzas for a crowd.

Now think about your own experience.

How many restaurants have you booked online, providing your name, phone number and email address in the process?

You turn up, enjoy your meal, pay the bill and leave.

How many of those restaurants have contacted you the following day to thank you for visiting?

How many have asked whether you enjoyed the food, whether the service was good, or whether there’s anything they could have done better?

Very few, I’d suggest.

And that’s a missed opportunity.

Let’s be honest. When someone asks how everything was while you’re paying the bill, you might say it was great, even if something wasn’t quite right. You don’t necessarily want to complain or make a fuss.

But a friendly follow-up the next day gives the business another opportunity to hear what you really thought, learn something useful and make you feel valued.

Of course, not every customer wants a phone call, and businesses should respect people’s communication preferences. But where a customer has agreed to be contacted, a genuine thank you can go a long way.

It doesn’t have to be complicated. It could be a short email, a personal message or a quick phone call.

The important thing is that it feels genuine.

We spend so much time and money attracting customers. We work hard to give them a good experience. Yet once they’ve paid and walked out the door, we often move straight on to the next customer.

We forget that the experience doesn’t have to end at the checkout.

A great experience makes a good impression. A genuine thank you can help make that impression last.

So here’s a question worth asking yourself.

Have you ever personally thanked a customer the day after they bought from you? And when was the last time a business did that for you?

If the answer to either question is rarely or never, perhaps it’s time to pick up the phone.

Your customers have a choice about where they spend their money. A simple thank you might be one of the reasons they choose you again.

The Customer Advantage, by Charles Alder | Founder, Livin La Vida

Practical ideas to help businesses build stronger customer relationships, loyalty and profitability.

Get The Customer Advantage

Privacy(Required)