The Handwritten Note
Relationship Marketing is about developing and nurturing long lasting relationships that are mutually beneficial by connecting with people in a special way. In today’s day and age of electronic media, people have replaced the handwritten note with emails, texts, e cards, and other similar types of mediums.
The handwritten note can leave a lasting impression that no other electronic medium will. It tells your customer that you care enough about them to take the time to write them a personalized card. About 97% of all of the mail that we receive is considered junk mail and about 3% of it is personal. When was the last time you received a nice handwritten greeting card that was not on your birthday nor a holiday, and was sent by someone other than a relative?
A simple Thank You note or perhaps a card expressing gratitude and appreciation can have the greatest impact in your customer relationship marketing strategy. People and companies with the discipline to implement a customer relationship marketing plan over time have had extraordinary results.
Tom Hopkins, author of “How to Master the Art of Selling” and the nation’s top selling trainer, understood at a very young age that building relationships is what selling is all about. Early in his career he began to send handwritten thank you notes to people. In fact he set a goal to send at least 10 thank you notes every day. By the end of his third year in sales his business became 100% referrals.
Joe Girard, author of “How to Sell Anything to Anyone” and the world’s greatest salesman according to the Guinness Book of World Records, sent over 16,000 handwritten greeting cards to past clients every month. In fact he employed a few people out of his own pocket to hand write each one of those notes. As a result of that effort, Joe became the number one car salesperson in the entire world for 12 years straight. Nearly every one of his sales came from referrals.
Bob Burg, author of the bestselling “Endless Referrals” says “Thank you notes are one of the most powerful tools in building a huge network, both professionally and socially. People with the most impressive networks are typically avid note writers. I suggest getting into the habit of immediately sending out notes.”
Harvey Mackay, author of “Swim with the Sharks without being Eaten Alive” says “Short handwritten notes yield long lasting results. In sales never underestimate the importance of the personall gesture, and right at the top of the list of personal gestures sits the handwritten note. Always send memorable cards and personal notes when you are reminded of a person”.
The best part about sending handwritten notes as part of your customer relationship marketing plan is that you can start sending cards today to a few key customers and then expand to the rest of your customers over time. Take advantage of the tools that technology is making available to you that are making sending cards affordable and easy.
Posted in Relationship Marketing Ideas