“Your CD has been gently taken from our CD Baby shelves with sterilized contamination-free gloves and placed onto a satin pillow. A team of 50 employees inspected your CD and polished it to make sure it was in the best possible condition before mailing. Our packing specialist from Japan lit a candle and a hush fell over the crowd as he put your CD into the finest gold-lined box that money can buy.”

Like it so far? Here’s more:

“We all had a wonderful celebration afterward and the whole party marched down the street to the post office where the entire town of Portland waved “Bon Voyage!” to your package, on its way to you in our private CD Baby jet on this day, September 23, 2009. ”

Here’s the clincher:

“We hope you had a wonderful time shopping at CD Baby. In commemoration, we have placed your picture on our wall as “Customer of the Year.” We’re all exhausted but can’t wait for you to come back to CDBaby.com.

Thank, you, thank you, thank you!

Signed…

We miss you already. We’ll be right here patiently awaiting your return.”

Have they made a customer for life? You betcha.

Do your emails connect with your customers? Take a hint from CD Baby. Write them in a friendly, conversational style.  Include humor if appropriate.  And your open rate is sure to soar.