Write a letter
We spend a concerted amount of time trying to scheme how to reach our customers. We are emailing, blogging, podcasting, searching for the next SEO trick and so forth. And while these are great avenues for communication – they seem to be lacking. They are missing the personal touch. Have we forgotten the basics?
These days, 95% of my correspondence is email based. The daily ritual is to peruse emails over the first cup of coffee, sorting out legitimate messages from those that promise me “more male power.” When I go to the "real" mail box – typically I receive bills, an occasional check (oh, we like those!) and some form of mass produced solicitation. Doesn't anybody love me?
Remember when you were a kid and you received a letter a distant relative or a pen pal (ah, pen pals – have they gone the way of the instant gratification chat rooms?). When I was in high school (back in the Stone Age), I corresponded with a friend who had moved to Florida. It may have only lasted six months, but I anxiously awaited these missives from my friend, read and reread their contents, and longed for the next installment in our on going correspondence.
I used to shop at Nordstrom’s. Early in my buying days, a savvy salesperson was kind enough to send me a thank you note (handwritten, no less!!) for my purchase. A few weeks later, I received a note from the same person noting the shirts that I liked were on sale. This went on for several months. 8 out of 10 times, I would end up making a purchase. Ultimately, the correspondence stopped. Most likely, the sales person moved on. And while I still occasionally shop Nordstrom’s - the relationship is gone - as is any urgency.
Ok, so I don’t expect your customers to be fawning over their mail boxes anxiously waiting to hear from you, but . . . When is the last time you sat down and wrote a thank you note to a customer? Acknowledged a vendor who went out of their way to assist you? It could be that extra something that puts you top on mind the next time they are in the market for your services.
"If you want to know your true opinion of someone, watch the effect produced in you by the first sight of a letter from him." Arthur Schopenhauer
These days, 95% of my correspondence is email based. The daily ritual is to peruse emails over the first cup of coffee, sorting out legitimate messages from those that promise me “more male power.” When I go to the "real" mail box – typically I receive bills, an occasional check (oh, we like those!) and some form of mass produced solicitation. Doesn't anybody love me?
Remember when you were a kid and you received a letter a distant relative or a pen pal (ah, pen pals – have they gone the way of the instant gratification chat rooms?). When I was in high school (back in the Stone Age), I corresponded with a friend who had moved to Florida. It may have only lasted six months, but I anxiously awaited these missives from my friend, read and reread their contents, and longed for the next installment in our on going correspondence.
I used to shop at Nordstrom’s. Early in my buying days, a savvy salesperson was kind enough to send me a thank you note (handwritten, no less!!) for my purchase. A few weeks later, I received a note from the same person noting the shirts that I liked were on sale. This went on for several months. 8 out of 10 times, I would end up making a purchase. Ultimately, the correspondence stopped. Most likely, the sales person moved on. And while I still occasionally shop Nordstrom’s - the relationship is gone - as is any urgency.
Ok, so I don’t expect your customers to be fawning over their mail boxes anxiously waiting to hear from you, but . . . When is the last time you sat down and wrote a thank you note to a customer? Acknowledged a vendor who went out of their way to assist you? It could be that extra something that puts you top on mind the next time they are in the market for your services.
"If you want to know your true opinion of someone, watch the effect produced in you by the first sight of a letter from him." Arthur Schopenhauer
posted by Mike Doherty at
2:40 PM
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