You and your client have invested a lot into their website. You’ve poured your heart and soul into the project to make it the best it can be. They’ve put their trust, time, and money into you. Now, the website is live and everyone is excited.
Thoughtfulness, humility, and appreciation turn clients into advocates.
There are many ways to thank clients after their website goes live. It can be as simple as sending an email to let them know the site is up and running, or it may be as extravagant as throwing a party. Regardless of the type of gesture, the goal is to show appreciation for their trust in you. These are our ideas to thank a client after a project is done:
1. Write a thank you email
When you send a thank you email to a client, the goal is to make that person feel appreciated. Be sure to include why you enjoyed working with them and how honored you are to work with them. The client is the hero of their own story, so don’t forget to make them feel that way.
We typically send thank you emails like this:
“We are so excited to announce that your site went live! Working with you has been an absolute pleasure! We have loved [COMPLIMENT] and we are so excited to help you accomplish [GOAL]. We appreciate that you made that jump with us and we are so proud of what we created together.
“We love working with you and if you ever need anything, let us know. We are always happy to help.”
2. Offer free website maintenance (for a limited time)
One way to show appreciation to thank a client after the launch is to care for the website (for a limited time). We recommend offering bug fixes for 30 days after the launch so that they feel supported. It’s a great way to show that you care about the product and want to make sure everything is good, even after your contract has ended. Just make sure that you have a clear cut-off date and boundaries so they don’t ask too much. An example of what we have offered has been:
“We care about this you and your project, which is why we can help with any issues over this next month. If there are any bugs, broken links, or anything amiss that we didn’t catch during the QA time, you can contact us for the next 30 days and we will be happy to assist. (This does not include content or photo changes – just the things that should have been done but might have gotten missed in the final push.)”
3. Send them a gift
Other way to thank a client was we’ve created thank you gift boxes for every one of our projects in the past. This includes notebooks, custom water bottles, stickers, coffee, and a branded hat. But you can be as creative as you want to be. Build the gift off of the personality of your brand. Or give something memorable, like tickets or a gift card to a night out. They’ll remember you every time they think back on that gift.
4. Thank a client by throw them a party
For large, local projects, you can always invite the client to a celebration. This could be as simple as happy hour at your office, or dinner out. This was an accomplishment for you and them and they will appreciate being able to celebrate with you.
5. Share their case study with them
Before you launch the case study, invite the client to check it out first. This is a great way for them to recap the project, get excited, and share their success with others.
You can never be too grateful. The next time you complete an assignment for one of your clients, don’t forget to take a moment to thank them for the opportunity and the work they’ve given you. They have been a partner with you and you are in business because of them.
