Post in a FaceBook Sales Group:
I’m old school. I still send hand written THANK YOU CARDS to our customers. I feel handwritten thank you’s are better than an email. Lost Art ? Or waste of Time?
Before you read any further… What do you say… Lost Art or Waste of Time?
Now for several responses:
I send them too. To my customers. And man oh man. They recommend New customers to me. All of the time.
My company trains our team to send handwritten thank you and cards just because. The feedback is awesome.
This is a huge key in any sales business. Every owner or top tier sales person does this on a regular.
I like it. It shows you appreciate your customers. I got one from my car salesman and from a furniture salesman.
Personally writing thank you’s to customers is a winner as it fosters a relationship that could make you much more money.
I still do it! Huge success rates.
In fact ALL of the responses where from people who were sending thank you cards declaring the positive results towards relationships and business.
A few people shared some additional twists to the note writing…
Still very effective. My branch manager sends out hand-written thank you cards with a wax seal stamped on the back to every account I open.
I also do handwritten thank you cards, birthdays, congratulations, sympathy, and get wells.
I often put a lottery ticket in and change the message… you took a gamble on me, here’s one for you…. or we’re going to accomplish your goals partnering together, here’s a gift which may help you accomplish some other ones… I change the message up all the time.
And if your excuse is “bad penmanship” then type it out – copy your prose – paste it into a card. Thank you cards separate the wheat from the chafe.
I needed to see this post so badly !!!! I sent out a hand written thank you card to my first 75 customers (say first 3 months of business) with the intention of doing it at the end of each month. Well that plan went out the window when I got busier and I haven’t done it since – I’m up to 350 customers with around 30-35% repeat business retention. Time to get my shit sorted out !!!! The feedback was great from the cards I sent initially and it was never a waste of my time, my competition (over 2000 of them) are not doing it but definitely a lost art and I hope it stays that way!!
In other words…. it shouldn’t be a lost art or a waste of time. It’s a low cost-no cost revenue and relationship generator.
Here’s a quick way to jumpstart this lost art with your reps!
Sales Meeting Activity (15 Minutes)
1. Purchase thank you cards if your organization doesn’t have preprinted cards.
2. Distribute 5 cards to each sales rep.
3. Allow time for each rep to write 5 thank you cards to clients of their choice.
4. Mail the cards!
Additional ideas to turn card sending into a habit… repeat this activity once a month or distribute a stack of thank you cards to each rep.
I look forward to your (email) with your reps comments in a few weeks!
