How to Boost Your MSP Reputation (and Sales) by Using Thank You Cards

As time goes on, it seems that we lose some of the old customer service practices of days gone by. Could reviving one of them help you get an edge on your competition?

If your grandmother made you write Thank You cards after your birthday, she was actually doing you a favor, because that one simple act still makes as big of an impact on people today as it did 50 years ago (and maybe more).

Find out how sending a note of appreciation to your customers can help boost your tech company’s reputation and gain you customer loyalty.

Thank You Cards? Really?

Yes, really! Just sending a note of thanks to a new client can make a huge difference in how you and your business are perceived. This practice can also gain you a certain level of respect from those that remember when it used to be the norm.

And by “sending a note of thanks,” we don’t mean an email! That misses the point.

You want to stand out from other MSP firms and let your client know you went out of your way to thank them. An email just doesn’t say that (especially if it’s automated!).

Taking the time to handwrite a “Thanks for choosing us! We appreciate your business,” and actually mailing it snail mail takes your customer service to a whole other level.

Real World Example

One of our Computer Business Marketing Facebook group members, Dave Greenbaum of DoctorDave Computer Repair, shared an awesome post about an email he received from a customer regarding a Thank You card Dave had sent him.

Dave noted that he sends a Thank You card after his first service call with a client. Here’s how that one act impacted his new customer. The email said in part:

“Two days ago I received a handwritten note from you. This is incredible. It is a way of doing business that I thought had vanished. As one over 70, I remember when this was the norm… It has all but disappeared, which makes your note all the more special.”

You can find this on our Facebook Group (just request to join).

Psychological Benefits

There’s a great quote by Maya Angelou that states, “People will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.”

One of the reasons that Thank You notes are so powerful is that they make the recipient feel appreciated. They also show that you care personally about them because you took the time to mail them a handwritten note.

People often underestimate the power of that one simple gesture. In a psychological study, participants were asked to predict how someone would react to receiving a Thank You note.

It was found that participants consistently underestimated how pleasantly surprised the recipients were from getting a handwritten note of thanks. They also underestimated how that positive act of gratitude made recipients feel.

Making your customers feel appreciated and special is all part of creating a positive customer experience, which is important to earning repeat business and client referrals.

Here are a few statistics that show how important a customer’s experience with your business is:

• Businesses that provide a superior customer experience make 5.7x more revenue than their competitors.
• 73% of customers state that a good experience is an important factor when it comes to loyalty.
• Loyal customers are 5x more likely to be a repeat buyer and 4x more likely to refer your business to someone they know.

Put Together Your Own “Thank You” Card Strategy

While sending a Thank You note to each new customer is pretty straight forward, like any type of business activity, you want to have a strategy. This will ensure the practice doesn’t end up being “hit or miss” and that you can track the results.

When it comes to your tech business marketing engine, Thank You cards fall under branding, which one of the oils that helps things keep running smoothly. Handwritten notes of gratitude build your brand reputation as one that has outstanding customer care.

People love sharing news about good experiences with friends, families, and colleagues. According to Referral Rock, 84% of people trust recommendations from people they know and word of mouth is the main factor behind 20 to 50% of all purchasing decisions.

Here are some tips on putting together your own Thank You note game plan.

Decide When You Will a Send Thank You

You want to keep your strategy consistent. You don’t want to have one new customer get a Thank You and another one not get one (what if they know each other?!), so decide what is going to trigger the Thank You note.

Here are a few ideas:

• Send to a new client after their first job is completed
• Send to client (old or new) after a particularly large project is finished
• Send to all managed services clients once a year on the anniversary of them first signing up

Decide what works for you and your business and then stick to that schedule.

Personalize It

Don’t just send a generic card without a personal salutation or you’ll be diminishing the “feel good” impact of your Thank You note.

You want it to personally mention the customer and if you can, mention the project to add even more of a personal touch.

Here are DON’T and DO examples:

DON’T:

“Dear New Client,

Thank you for choosing us for your IT needs. We look forward to serving you again in the future.

-ACME Computers”

DO:

“Dear Phil,

It was a pleasure working with you and your team at Sunset Motors on your company’s Microsoft 365 migration. Please don’t hesitate to reach out if we can be of assistance again in the future.

All the best,
Don Johnson
ACME Computers”

Hand Write Your Note

Don’t buy a pack of printer ready Thank You cards and then just print them all off in mass. This would miss the point of being personal.

Yes, you may have to have someone at your office with better handwriting jot the card out for you or you may have to just write really slow to make it readable. But either way, a handwritten note conveys the sentiments of – I care, you matter, we really appreciate you – in a way that a printed note just cannot.

Don’t Overthink the Note Card

Just a simple white card with “Thanks” is just fine to send your Thank You notes, you don’t have to overthink it. It’s the act of sending it and the sentiment behind it that is going to make an impact on your customers.

You don’t have to get fancy with the type of cards you buy, but if you want to promote your brand, then having some note cards printed with your logo on them would be a nice touch.

Use a Warm, Yet Professional Tone

A mix of warm, sincere, and professional is what you should shoot for when writing your Thank You notes.

Just think about the type of Thank You note that you would like to receive from a business you use and that will help you strike the right tone.

Here are a few “warm, yet professional” types of sign offs:

• Thanks again,
• Cheers,
• Kind Regards,
• Sincerely,
• All the best,

Create a Standard Template that Can be Personalized

You don’t want the act of writing Thank You notes to be a burden on your time, or you’ll end up dropping the practice. Put together a standard template that you can use to personalize each one and that will save you from having to come up with what to say all over again for each one.

Here’s an example template:

“Dear (first name),

It was a pleasure working with you (and your team) on your company’s (name of project or work that was done). Please don’t hesitate to reach out if we can be of assistance again in the future.

Cheers,”

Track Who is Sent a Card

It’s easy for things to fall between the cracks if they’re not properly tracked. Just like you track other customer metrics, like sales, you also want to track your follow up activities. This will help you see what’s having an impact and also make sure no one gets missed.

Customers are willing to spend 17% more with a business if they have excellent customer service.

If you use a CRM program for handling your client database, then it should be fairly simple to add a new checkbox field for “Thank You sent.” If you use a spreadsheet, then just add a column to check off when it’s been done. This way you can ensure no one gets missed.

Keep Cards Going Out Regularly  

Set aside some time each week to send out your Thank You cards to keep them going out regularly and in a timely manner.

This may be every Friday afternoon for 30 minutes or you might want to take 5-10 minutes at the end of the day to do them and close out your day on a positive note.

Scheduling the notes into your regular routine ensures they continue to go out smoothly and it’s not taking time away from anything else, since you’ve dedicated the time block.

Also, make sure to keep cards and stamps in stock, so you’re not left with a backlog of Thank You notes because you ran out of supplies.

Send Your Notes in Timely Manner

You want to send your Thank You note while your business is still fresh in a client’s mind, not when they have to scratch their head and try to remember who you are.

Sending them within a week of a new customer project being completed is a good timeframe to shoot for.

Consider Expanding to Leads and Referrals

Once you get your Thank You note strategy going, you may want to expand it to other areas of your business.

For example, you could send a handwritten note to a business lead that you visited to quote a networking project thanking them for their time.

You may also want to thank a customer for sending you a referral.

Here’s a great resource for ideas on different types of Thank You messages you can use for different scenarios.

A Little Thoughtfulness Goes a Long Way

Once you start adding personal touches to your customer and lead follow up, like sending handwritten Thank Yous, you may be shocked at just how much it improves your customer retention and referral business.

Do you have any great stories about sending Thank You notes? Share in the comments!