thankful

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.