It’s Time to Say “Thank You” to Business Supporters and Agencies
Actually, it’s always the right time to say “thank you” to business supporters and agencies, but it’s particularly meaningful at this time of year. Everyone likes to be appreciated, and letting business supporters and agencies know you appreciate their support is an important part of relationship cultivation.
Reciprocity can be a part of a customer retention program that can be put into place routinely in business support once or twice a year. It’s nice for reps to take the time to thank their business supporters and agencies while helping to build relationships and business support loyalty. Also, it gives reps a reason to go see their valued clients and agencies and chat in person while delivering a gift of appreciation. Agencies are always surprised when reps take the time to thank them, too! Thankfulness goes a long way.
Here are some ways you can give a “thank you” to your business supporters and agencies:
- Trade for cookies, fudge, brownies or candy made by local businesses that will be helped by having trade messages this time of year. Most businesses that make cookies, brownies or candy love to be on the air in November and December during the holiday season.
- Consider a half cash, half trade so that the business you’re trading with can add a little more money to the trade for their goodies to have a schedule that is strong enough to really work for them. They can pay to add digital ads in your newsletter, streaming audio pre-rolls or more messages.
- Trade for gift baskets or make gift baskets for the top 20% of your business supporters and agencies. It can be fun to get your department together in a conference room and set up an assembly line to make gift baskets to take to your largest accounts.
- Send out a “thank you” email to all your business supporters and agencies with a short thank-you note written by your CEO that expresses how much business support matters to your station(s).
Having a personal note from your CEO gives the “thank you” added meaning and significance. - Partner with a brewery supporter to host a party just for business supporters and agencies. This will give your business supporters a chance to network and you can thank them all for their support.
- Buy $10 Starbucks gift cards for agency buyers. A great sales rep I know buys Starbuck gift cards for $10 and gives them to his agency buyers. They love it and him and it’s totally worth his effort.
- Also, here’s a shout-out to Melanie Dyer with Kentucky Public Media who filled pumpkins with Halloween candy and delivered them to her agency buyers right before Halloween. (Thank you Melanie for sharing this with us!) The buyers were delighted to receive the gift and it gave her another way to talk to them and strengthen her agency relationships. They won’t forget her thoughtfulness. Consider adding a creative touch of appreciation like this next year!
There are many ways to deliver a meaningful “thank you” message to your business supporters and agencies this time of year. It’s time to stop and take the time to be creative and let business supporters know they’re appreciated.
1. Send a thank-you email to business supporters from your CEO.
Pull an email list of all your business supporters, from the last 18 months, including nonprofit supporters, advertising firms, and current prospects. Yes, even current prospects. This is so much easier if you have CRM (Customer Record Mgmt) software. But even if you don’t, see if you can make an excel spreadsheet and export the emails into Constant Contact, Mailchimp or your email software.
You may decide to do this a week before Thanksgiving with a “Thanksgiving” style graphic heading. Ask your CEO, President, or GM to write a very short paragraph saying how much the station appreciates the support of their business sponsors and what it means to the station. If you are experimenting with ai (such as ChatGPT or Otter.ai) you can get this ai software to help you write the thank-you email. Then, under the CEO’s thank-you paragraph, give a big thank-you from your corporate or business support team along with wishes for a safe and wonderful Thanksgiving. At the bottom make sure you have your contact information for any questions about streaming and new ways to support the station.
Getting a message from the station’s CEO shows supporters how important they are to the station and makes them feel like a part of your public radio community.
2. Send Thanksgiving or year-end thank-you cards by mail to your top 20% of accounts.
Some stations have purchased thank-you cards for each account executive to address, sign and mail to their top accounts. This is usually about 10-15 accounts per rep and is a small investment with big returns. Consider that some of the larger non-profit organizations who buy annual schedules on public radio are delighted to have someone thank them for their partnership.
3. Send a digital thank-you card to business supporters via email.
(Again you could use AI to help write this) from the corporate support team using Mailchimp or Constant Contact with a photo of everyone with their dogs/cats and the Thanksgiving/fall/holiday decorations of your choice, just to say thank you for supporting the station. Maybe include your favorite recipe as a “gift.”
4. Have gifts delivered to your top business supporters.
Before the Pandemic, some stations traded for cookies, candy or fruit baskets and delivered these as a Thanksgiving gift to their top business supporters. It’s the right time of the year and can be a nice addition to the office luncheons that often happen at this time of year before long holiday weekends. It may be a good time to start this practice again.
The power of saying “thank you” to business supporters at this time of year has many great benefits.
- If you are delivering your top business supporters “thank you” cookies or candy, this gives the account representative a reason and a way to see their business contact in person. This has become harder to do since the Pandemic and it’s a great way to connect with the client even if they have an advertising firm and bolster their relationship directly.
- Saying “thank you” feels good to all involved and especially the account representative delivering the thank you, no matter in what form it is given.
- A “thank you” in November comes at a time of the year when it can bolster with reciprocity a renewal of business for the next year. It reinforces the relationship and acknowledges the gift of support.
Let us know if you have a special way you thank your business supporters at this time of year. We’d love to hear other ideas!
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