How to Say Thank You in Your Direct Sales Business

How do you say thank you in your direct sales business? Are you generous or stingy with your gratitude? I’m sure you answered that you’re generous, but I bet you could take it up a notch. Imagine what it would be like to be known as the direct seller who is abundantly grateful not only in attitude is exceptional in how she expresses it.

No matter where you shop, a high-end department store or a mini market, you expect to hear the words, “thank you” at the end of the transaction. Some stores take it a step further and put a sign on the door that says, “Thank you. Come again.” Stores that call themselves boutiques or shoppes (spelled the fancy way) might even have doormen who say it.

Let’s pretend that your direct sales business has a brick and mortar location. It might even be made out of brick and mortar and have big picture windows in the front where you can display your products and it’s located on the cutest street ever. What kind of thank you will everyone get as she leaves your store? Obviously, the ones who purchase something will get a verbal thank you at the cash register. But will that be the only one they get? And would you make it a point to thank the ones who didn’t buy anything? You know, the ones who were dragged into your store by their friend who told them she just needed a warm body to come with her.

Before you answer, let’s translate this scenario into the direct sales world. 

In this world, the sign on the door is equivalent to a generic thank you email. It’s better than nothing, but barely. And, I wonder, does anyone take that sign seriously? Are the gratitude and invitation sufficiently conveyed such that someone is going to choose a store that has a thank you sign on its door as opposed to any store that is convenient and sells the same things? A sign on a door might be good enough for a supermarket or even a shop that isn’t fancy enough to add the “pe” on the end of it, but you’re not selling groceries to the masses.

You have a shoppe, and if it is special enough to add extraneous letters, your customers should get the whole experience, which means you should have a doorman. In the direct sales world, the doorman is the handwritten thank you note.

• It’s personal. A doorman might use the same words to everyone, “Thank you. Come again,” but he smiles and looks them in the eye when he says it. A thank you note starts with the recipient's name and is written in your handwriting.
• It’s inviting. A doorman is sincere and warm. Who wouldn’t want to come back and see him? A thank you note is an extension of you. How much more inviting can you get?
• It’s exceptional. Few stores have a doorman, and those that employ one probably also do a lot of other things that provide an excellent and memorable experience for the customer. Few direct sellers make use of the handwritten note, and those that do probably run an outstanding business.

I want you to consider one more thing before you answer:

When you have a choice to purchase the same product at the same price from a store with a sign or from one with a doorman, which do you pick? Which one would you want to bring your friends to? Which one would you want to work at?

Okay, here’s the question again in case you forgot it while you were imagining your darling shoppe located on the cutest street. What kind of thank you will everyone who comes into your store get as she leaves? Spoiler alert, the correct answer is one spoken by a doorman.

Cheering for you,
Kelly

This is part of a series of posts on thank you notes. 
Click here for the next post in the series.

Get a set of My Heart Beats thank you cards here.