The power of "Thank you!"

One of the very first new things I brought to my current role with the Construction News & Report Group was the use of a hand written "Thank you" card sent out to every advertiser I dealt with no matter the size of the ad. It is a simple "Thanks" for doing business with me and an invitation to them to let me know if I can ever help with generating interest in their projects or products.

Responses range from phone calls saying they appreciated the personalized approach or emails saying "Thank you" back. When new employees start with the company it seems this simple process is hard to start for them. They come up with suggestions for sending emails, getting mailing labels preprinted or other ideas that simply take away from the true intent, a simple yet effective connection to your clients. In some cases new reps will spend so much time either fighting the idea or trying to find a better solution they miss the point of how easy it is to write thank you. Some will stock pile the cards until the end of the month when writing our 50 plus cards truly becomes a chore. My method is simple, I write the note and send it out right after they confirm their order. The benefit is in some cases the card arrivess and gets the person to act on providing artwork or following up with me for more information. The note arrives with my business card and lets the person know they are not just a transaction but someone who is worthy of my extra little effort.

I also use this during the holidays, sending a greeting card with a small token of appreciation such as a coffee gift card. However these are not as unique as my personalized "Thank you" cards which I am guessing where probably the normal thing to do long before fax machines and emails took over.

My two sons ages 6 & 9, work a paper route together they started this past May. The youngest fills in from time to time due to sports, but they work together pretty well. I suggested to my oldest son he take the same approach for the holidays and write out a "Thank you" message in holiday cards and deliver them to his customers. I told him that the previous carriers probably did not do this unique jester and his customers would appreciate it. I told him they would feel good about him working for them and that the good deed could reward his efforts when the traditional Christmas tips would be handed out. I also told him the best thing he and his brother could get was customer satisfaction and a big "Thank you".

My son was thinking of the usual tip he he gets of $1 or $2 a every two weeks. He was a little reluctant to work with his brother filling out the cards, but he did it was little pushing from me. He delivered his cards with his brother this past Friday and woke me up early Saturday morning literally jumping for joy. He started off telling me that two of his customers had opened the doors today to say thank you to him and his brother for the card. In the normal life of a paper delivery boy the only time you see or hear from a customer is when he miss delivery or another mistake is made on your part. My sons were impressed people were actually waiting for them to arrive to say "Thanks". He then handed me two cards he had gotten from two other customers that thanked him and his brother for great service and delivering Christmas cards to them in the first place. In his other hand was $60 in tips he and his brother had gotten from the two customers who presented him Christmas cards. My oldest son said I was right that delivering the hand written cards would make his customers happy and he would get rewarded for his efforts.

The meaning behind this is that my initial efforts to send the card to thank my customers not only allowed me to connect with them in an unique way but the reward factor for me was always a possibility. The rewards have been repeat advertising, repeat profiles on companies and opportunities to develop relationships. The key though is not expect to win the lottery for your efforts. Give more then you ever expect to get back.

My sons joked about getting cards for all the holidays and events coming up such as Valentines Day and Easter. He told me he believes me know that people will appreciate the effort he put forth, the $60 in tips so far definitely helps. Now if I can only get the rest of the sales staff at the Construction News & Report Group to not think of the "Thank you" cards as a chore....