31 December 2001

Wishing you a prosperous New Year of happy customers and healthy profits.

• "The belief that you can’t do something is merely a rationalisation for unwillingness to take a risk." – Ari Kiev.

• The Portable Coach – 28 surefire strategies for business and personal growth. Author: Thomas J. Leonard. Publisher: Scribner. Regarded as the Vincent Lombardi of Personal Coaching, Leonard’s book contains the full set of strategies that form the basis of the development and training of Professional Coaches at Coach University for use with their tens of thousands of clients worldwide.

 

• Website link of the Week

www.marketingterms.com Referred by my good friend Gihan Perera, this site is the best I have seen in explaining all the terms and jargon that have sprung up with the development of the Internet and all its associated marketing activities. Well worth a visit.

This week’s customer service "Touchstone"

• Thank you cards.

As with many things in life, it’s the little things that make the biggest difference. Little things like returning home from holiday and discovering your neighbours have stocked your refrigerator with fresh bread, eggs and milk. Or picking your car up from the service station washed and vacuumed.

One of those little things that can make a big difference in your business is a simple thank you card.

The card itself can take many forms. They may be something that you have had specially designed incorporating company logos and photos of you and/or individual members of staff. They may also include some witty or poignant message that is appropriate for the occasion. Alternatively, your local newsagent has a variety of ‘blank’ cards that you can use as thank you cards. Even postcards will suffice.

But no matter what the card is, it is important that the thank you note be hand written. It almost defeats the purpose of sending it if it is type written. What makes the thank you note special is not so much that you have taken the time to think about thanking someone, but you have personally done something about it.

Thank you notes can be used for many occasions. For thanking a staff member who has put in a special effort, or a customer who has been loyal for a number of years.

One way of reminding you of both the importance and the value of sending thank you cards, is to set a goal of sending out at least one card per day. It’s amazing when you employ this strategy, the number of people in your life that you can be thankful for.

Sending thank you notes to your staff also creates an example, which they in turn should be encouraged to replicate with customers and suppliers that they come in contact with. Just because saying thank you was something we all learnt in kindergarten, doesn’t mean that it has no place in modern business. In fact quite the contrary is true.

Who is the first person you can send one to?

Until next week, many happy customer returns!

Graham Harvey APS

Next week: Birthday and festive season cards to clients.

Watch out for Graham’s new book Seducing the Vigilante Customer – winning strategies to guarantee the return of happy customers and healthy profits, available in all good book stores early in 2002.

Previous newsletters available at www.grahamharvey.com.au/Articles/

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