B2B Web Strategy Blog – eMagine

Behold the power of “Thank You”

May 4th, 2009 Posted by: Bill Gadless

Like so many others, I make a trip each morning to my favorite local spot to get a cup of coffee before work.  At this point in my day, I’m awake and coherent enough to operate my vehicle though one squinting eye, order my beverage and little else.  When I request my daily cup of caffeine, I rely on the person behind the counter to give me a bit of courtesy in my first true social interaction of the day, and – sadly – I’m still occasionally faced with the absence of a simple “Thank You.”

Luckily, my usual place very rarely misses this pleasantry, but that makes it all the more obvious when it isn’t there.  “No ‘thank you?’  Really?  I’m giving you my business – my money – every morning, and I can’t get a ‘thanks?’”

When we don’t hear those two words in our day-to-day transactions out in the world, it affects us – our mood, our outlook.  Yet every day, we have clients submit content where the “Thank You” text is rushed, an afterthought, or forgotten altogether.  That kind of customer service doesn’t fly in brick and mortar business; it should be no surprise that it fails on the web, too.
When a user submits a form on your site, 99% of the time, they’re sent to a different page.  We call this a “thank you” page,” “delivery” page, “conversion” page, etc.  Whatever you want to call it, it’s immeasurably important to the impression you make on your user (who – don’t forget – is a potential lead!).

Just as we expect a “thank you” when we hand two bucks to our local coffee shop, your users expect a well-deserved “thank you” for handing you their contact information – something worth a whole lot more to you than a cup of coffee!  Show them your gratitude, show them you care.  Show them you’re not just taking their information and telling them to “scram.”  Here’s what you need to give them:

• A “Thank You” – one of the oldest basic human courtesies.  It so easy to give, but does so much for a user’s mood and impression on what kind of company you run.  Make it the first header on your page so it’s nice and big.
• An expectation – if the user was signing up for an offer, tell them what happens next.  Will they be contacted?  Will they be receiving an email with a link?  Your job of guiding them isn’t finished until they have what they want.  If they were requesting some type of contact with your company, tell them who will be contacting them, and in what timeframe.
• A candy bar.

…A what?
At the counter of my coffee shop, there are mugs, snacks, t-shirts, compact disks, and a number of things they’d love me to add to my meager coffee purchase.  At the grocery store, there are candy bars, magazines, mints, gum.  Impulse buys meant to add a few more dollars and cents to your sale.  Retail stores have been doing this forever – know why?  They work!

Your “Thank You” page is your candy rack.  When a user submits a form, you’ve got a captive, reasonably controlled audience.  You’re pointing them to a page you determine, with content you create and you know what brought them there.  Why would you throw away that perfect opportunity for a nice targetted up-sell?

• If they requested a document, point them to related content elsewhere in your site.
• If they requested that someone contact them, point them to some relevant downloads that will keep their mind on your company until you can get back to them.

Do whatever you can to maintain a relationship with the user after the information transaction is complete.  Never leave the client hanging, and never let them think you don’t care.

And when they become a client thanks to your fantastic customer service practices, take them out for a coffee!

Entry Filed under: B2B Web Strategy