Keeping In Touch

How much would you be willing to pay to keep customers each year? $5?

The $5.00 Solution?
It does not matter whether you market yachts, fix teeth or trim trees. With enough loyal clients (customers or patients) you will exceed your financial goals.
A basic concept.

Will a single birthday card transform your clients into loyal, raving fanatics, who paint your business phone number on the side panels of their SUVs?

It seems very unlikely. (Although, even one card makes a difference.)

If you want fanatically loyal clients picture this scenario.

Scene #1: Shortly after she becomes a client (customer, patient, etc.), Mary Johnson receives a greeting card from you, thanking her for her business. Nice touch on your part.

Scene #2: Then Mary receives a birthday card on her 36th birthday. She’s growing more impressed with your professional client follow-up. She shows the card to a girlfriend.

Scene #3: Then Mary receives a greeting card wishing her a happy anniversary. She is stunned with your professional courtesy. Mary mentions your business to a couple of her friends.

Scene #4: Then, while finalizing the birthday party details for her pride and joy – who will turn nine-years-old in a week – Mary notices a birthday card from you to her son. Beyond stunned, Mary has never before experienced this level of thoughtful professionalism.

Scene #5: Finally, Mary receives your standard six-month follow-up greeting card, offering a discount, or something similar, if she refers a friend. How will Mary respond?

——————————————————————————–
This is The $5.00 Solution?. You sent 5 greeting cards, which cost you $5.00, plus postage.
Did you get your money’s worth? It seems like you did.

While greeting cards are always the first piece of mail people open, because they always contain good news…. a single greeting card is merely a great idea. But greeting cards exert a remarkable snowballing influence on people.

The amazing part is this. In less than a minute (when Mary first became your client) you scheduled an automated follow-up campaign. The Greeting Card Company printed, stuffed, stamped and mailed the cards for you.

Impressive, to say the least.

Aggressive client follow-up the easy, effective way.

($5.00, plus postage, and a minute of staff time makes good economic sense for a business program that works, especially when it works beyond your expectations.)

This works – beyond your expectations.

Examples of The $5.00 Dollar Solution?

Through this site are a few excellent (and quite successful) examples of The $5.00 Solution? in action. The companies that commissioned these custom cards can send them out individually or by the thousands. They can send them immediately, or schedule each card to go out on a different date, whenever they decide, automatically.

Let’s imagine, for a moment, that greeting cards will help your business grow and increase your income

Let’s imagine, for a moment, that greeting cards will help your business grow and increase your income in every way that we have outlined.

This means that greeting cards are the ultimate business tools in three critical areas:

1. Converting new business contacts into active clients (customers, patients, etc.)

2. Transforming casual customers into loyal clients.

3. Making sure that your best clients remain your best clients.

Hurray for greeting cards!!! What could be better?

How about this concept? Any photo on your computer can be uploaded in about 20 seconds. The greeting card company prints the image inside the card, in bright vibrant color, next to your message.

If you want fanatically loyal clients, and multiple referrals, picture these possibilities:

Scene #1: You take a digital photo of your clients standing in front of their new house. You ask them “Why don’t we send this picture to 10 of your closest friends?”

Scene #2: You take a digital photo of your customers standing in front of their new car, or their new boat or their new recreational vehicle. You ask them “Would you like me to send this picture to a few members of your family?”

Here is the really fun part
-check back with your clients in about 10 days.

This is what you will discover:

* Most of their friends and family have called to offer their congratulations.
* Your clients are overflowing with enthusiasm about a simple photograph that you sent to their friends and family in a greeting card.
* They think you are the greatest. (Consider the future referrals.)
* You, in turn, contact your clients’ friends and relatives (who are now turbo-charged referrals.)

Could anything be more simple and effective?
Not really.

The potential is limited only by your imagination:

* A picture of you shaking hands with your clients, printed inside your personal “thank you” card that says, “I appreciate your business.”
* A picture of you and a new business contact at a luncheon or business event, printed inside your personal “I’m glad I met you card.
* A picture of your son or daughter playing a sport or a musical instrument.(Just for the fun of it.)
* A picture of your vacation in Maui, uploaded from the hotel computer (in Maui) “Wish you were here.”

Armed only with an inexpensive digital camera, a shrewd businessperson could double his or her bottom line, if they utilized greeting cards correctly.

Is this merely hyperbole?
To the contrary, this is not only possible, it is being accomplished all across the country as you read this.

This works – way beyond your expectations.

Guide to Staying Connected – And How Greeting Cards can help – 30 day challenge

Today’s busy schedules often leave little time for enriching people’s lives – our own included. But, carving out time to reach out to loved ones and strengthen our personal connections helps to boost our emotional well-being. Connecting with friends and family doesn’t have to take a lot of effort and it is often the simple, small gesture that has the most impact when it comes to showing someone how much you care.

Sending a greeting card is one of those simple gestures that reminds people someone is thinking about them. Making someone else feel special can also have the effect of making the sender feel good too. With all of the stress in people’s lives today, that small oasis of contentment is something we need now more than ever.

A recent survey by the Greeting Card Association found that almost 9 out of 10 Americans believe they are as close or closer to their friends and family than they were one year ago and 66% of Americans are regularly reaching out to their immediate family for love and support. Many times they are doing this, thru the simple process of sending out a greeting card in the mail.

Connecting with friends and family can occur because of a sense of obligation to recognize important life events, or it can simply result from an impulsive desire to reach out. Sometimes one person connecting with another will set off a boomerang effect of reaching out!

Imagine what an amazing thing can happen in the lives of others, if everyone decided to just *reach out* and send out cards every single day – just 1 card a day – to someone that you thought about. Just a nice, touchy/feely type card, to make someone smile.

62% of people feel inspired to send someone a card if they receive one from that person.

Follow these simple tips to stay connected with friends and family and boost your own sense of emotional well-being:

Set aside an allotted amount of time each day to reach out to others. Reaching out doesn’t take a lot of time, but it can be very meaningful to those we touch. A simple phone call, e-mail or greeting card reminds our loved ones how much we care. (Example: Just take 10 minutes every morning, not a big deal, not a huge time restraint, and easy to do, and enrich others lives – as well as yours – (contact me for details of a SIMPLE way to do this)).

Take time to reflect on what is important and of value in your life microsoft project alternative. You can start a gratitude journal and write down everything and everyone you are grateful for. Writing down things of importance help us to remember the most special personal connections. I decided to keep a journal once, and all it was, was ONCE a day, every day, I would write SOMETHING good about that day – or something good that happened in that day. It is amazing the difference it makes you feel overall.

Don’t wait for a reason to connect. Life is too short to hold back when it comes to connecting with friends and family. (And we are never promised tomorrow.) Sending a “thinking of you” or “just because” card can be one of the best ways to show someone you care.

Reflect your own personality when reaching out to loved ones. Whether it’s a romantic note on a pillow or a humorous card in the mail, connections with friends and family should showcase your own attitude and sentiment.

Hold on to your personal connections through tangible memories. One of the best ways to keep our connections top of mind is by holding on to a physical momento or keepsake. Reflecting on old letters and cards helps us to remember our most special connections.

Try it for 30 days – and let me know how this project has enriched your life – I guarantee you – you will never be the same, and you will never stop. Just take 10 min each day, for 30 days, and in that 10 min, make a phone call, write an email, or better yet, send out a card to someone. Just to tell them, thank you, you were thinking about them, you love them, they did a great job, etc. Anything, prompt yourself to think of ONE person a day to do this for. If you want an EASY way to do it with the greeting cards, contact me. But either way – please do it – and share your results with me after 30 days.

Keeping in Touch with Your Clients

Many people want business right – we all do! But we expect people to remember us 2 years after we have done business with them! Are they going to? Would you? If someone, for example, sold you a car…..They were a GREAT salesperson, did a GREAT job, you LOVED their service, and DEFINITELY would recommend them to anyone you knew. So, now 2 years down the road, your friend Sally mentions to you she is thinking about buying a new car. Do you remember the guys name that sold you the car to refer him business? Well, if he has NOT kept in touch with you AT ALL, you probably do not! But – if he sent you an email, called you, or sent you a greeting card in the mail, once a month, or even once every couple months, then he would be “TOP OF MIND” with you, and you would *probably* remember him, and you would be HAPPY to tell your friend Sally about your experience with him, and would tell her to call him. You would remember the name of the dealership as well as the saleman’s name!

Isn’t this how you want to run your business? Don’t you WANT your clients to remember you? Harvard’s Business School says we all know about 250 people in our *circle of influence*. Do you want to tap into those, or would you LIKE to tap into the 250 people that your 250 people know??? I like the latter idea much more! With that – same thing, if you KEEP IN TOUCH with the 250 people you know, by sending them emails, making phone calls, or even sending a greeting card once a month or once every few months – it would help you to stay “TOP OF MIND” with all your friends, family and clients….

And when you do this, people are going to remember you, and if they think you do a good job in your business, they are going to refer you to their friends and family – without you even asking!

Isn’t that the point we would ALL LOVE our business to be? 100% based on referrals without ANY advertising?

That IS how I run my business, and have for years…..and if you stay tuned, I will teach you tips and tricks I have learned and used over the years to help me, that can also help you in your business.

~Laurie Delk

Increase your Business Using Personal Greeting Cards

One piece of etiquette, that I’ve used in my business from the beginning…are unique cards. Just the power of sending a unique card…. They are sent so rarely, that when you do, you stand out. When people open your card and/or your gift, there’s a moment of surprise! and you’ve got their complete attention.

In today’s technology world, with email and texting and social media, that surprise is magnified 10-fold. I’ve been SO fortunate to receive THOUSANDS of thank you cards over the last 25 years in my business.

And….I have saved every single one, because they are special, they share thoughts and messages of love, gratitude and thanks share to me by friends, family, customers and clients.

It’s the POWER of APPRECIATION. The law of appreciation says – whoever you show appreciation to, will appreciate in value. In our personal and business relationships….it’s best to do the little things, consistently, to show that we appreciate others.

If we did a study on a group of married couples, or even in business/client relationships….
And asked, what is the biggest problem in your relationship….very FEW people would come back saying that they get TOO much appreciation…..they are shown TOO much kindness, bought too many gifts, given too many cards…..right? haha!

There has been studies that have shown the #1 reason “why customers leave”….is at 68% because of PERCEIVED INDIFFERENCE. That means that they were actually satisfied w the product or service, but they felt a LACK of emotional connection, or consistent appreciation – they just did not FEEL a reason to STAY!

Some ideas are – Send out a card – and customize it, so it is unique to THEIR business or situation, or even one of their interests (a tip for this is if you connect with them on social media as well, you can have a little insight into their personal life of their family, sports or other things they love and have a passion for.)

I have used an amazing system to help me do this, since 2004, called Send Out Cards, with GREAT success. With the Send Out Cards system, I have access to thousands of cards, in an instant, because it is ONLINE. with the card, I can also add a little gift, (or a big one!) like brownies, candies, herb teas, gourmet coffees, gifts for men, women, kids, or even pets! I can also even add a gift card if I choose.

With the system, I have the ability to send out the SAME card, customized with EACH person’s name, to 1 person at a time, 10 people, 100, 1000, or any amount of people I choose! This past Christmas I sent out over 3000 cards to friends, family, clients and customers.

Send Out Cards prints it, stuffs it, stamps it and puts it in the REAL mail for me – all for about a dollar including postage!

I can choose any number of fonts to write it in, just like when you choose an email, you can choose different looks for your letters, but I can also even fill out a form and mail it to the company and they will create a CUSTOM font of my PERSONAL handwriting, so the cards are actually sent in my REAL handwriting and/or signature! I LOVE this option!

I can import my contacts, or add them one by one, and I can put them into different groups, of how I want to categorize and organize them – that is unique to me.

If you would like to know more of how this system works, take a FREE trial on it, or have questions – please contact me at Iam@LaurieDelk.me

Now…..WHEN should you send a card to someone?
Whenever you think – someone went out of their way for you – send them a card
Whenever someone allows you to talk to them about your service or product, send them a thank you for their time.

When someone sends you a referral. When someone does business with you – after a sale.
These are times when it is really good to include a gift card, or a nice gift, to let them know you really appreciate them.

You can send cards to say “Great job!” “Well done!” “Congrats on the wedding” or the baby….
Happy Anniversary, Happy Birthday, Sympathy……and so much for for any reason or occasion to reach out and build on your relationship with your clients or customers.

I can tell you from personal and professional experience in my web and graphic design business as well as working with thousands of other clients in order to help them increase their bottom line in their traditional business….that the habit of sending out cards, and gifts – is definitely worth the habit of developing…..it says a lot about you – and your business, who you are, how you handle your business.

The key is, using a system, and sending them out on a regular basis. If you just try it for a few months, and then stop, because you don’t see immediate results, you will not see long term results. I have seen this many times….but if you are consistent, every month, building relationships with your clients by keeping in touch, every single month, I can guarantee you, seeing results in your business around 25% increase….or I’d be even willing to bet reimbursing you the cost that you spent on those cards, if you followed those exact rules — sending a card, once a month, with NO sales spiel in it, just keeping in touch every month for 5 months, and then maybe 1 card within a 6 month period, some sort of sales promotion….we call this Master Relationship Marketing – You build the relationship 80% of the time, and market only up to 20% of the time.

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Keeping In Touch