Reach Out and Touch Someone – The lost art of communicating with handwritten notecards

PROVIDENCE, R.I. - Feb. 21, 2014 - PRLog -- In sales, you want to stand out – especially if you are selling in a hyper-competitive market.  Technological advances have allowed us to touch people via email, Text Message, LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook and more.

The problem with communicating digitally is the sheer volume of digital communication most of us receives.  Most executives receive north of 100+ messages per day.  It is hard to create an impactful message digitally.  Think about it, when is the last time someone sent you a digital communication that made you pause, print it out and display it for days?  Beyond that, most of us have a “preferred” method of communicating.  For me it happens to be by phone.  That means most all digital messages annoy me.  I’m a saleswoman, I want people to communicate with me in my preferred method of communication – which happens to be verbal.  I know, texter’s just died a thousand deaths… it’s my preference and if you want to get my attention, that is how you will do it.  If I don’t know you and you are trying to get an appointment with me and do so by sending an email, I’m likely going to delete it.

It’s not about rising costs of postage that people don’t use snail mail.  They are trying to be time efficient, but fail to account for the actual results.  Depending on your end goal, relying solely on digital communication can leave you short of your goal.  Due to digital advances, the art of a handwritten greeting or thank you has become nearly extinct.  I bet you can acknowledge the names of the last 3 handwritten cards you have received.  Why?  Because so few people do it.  The infamous bank robber, John Dillenger was asked – “Why do you rob banks?” and he said “Because that is where the money is!”  You should send greeting cards because that is where the recipient’s attention is!

In basic math – I receive an average of 200 emails per day, 40 text messages not including messages received on Facebook and LinkedIn.  Guess how many handwritten cards I receive?  Usually an average of 2 per week. Trust me, I pay more attention to the cards I receive because someone took the time to write me a personal message of gratitude, then they mailed it to me at my place of business.  The sender demonstrated EFFORT.  I like to reward effort with attention.

If you are trying to get an appointment with someone, or you are trying to set yourself apart in a competitive sales situation, why wouldn’t you take 5 minutes to handwrite a greeting in a notecard and send it to your prospect?  For highest visibility, I highly recommend that you use blue ink, commemorative stamps and anything other than a business sized envelope.  This ensures that your card will not be mistaken for junk mail.  Your intended recipient will view a handwritten greeting card as an “above and beyond” effort for their attention and business.

If you calculate the value of your average sale, isn’t it worth the extra 5 minutes and less than $1 to solidify a relationship?  You can buy greeting cards in bulk from retailers like Christmas Tree Shops, Ocean State Job Lot and online retailers.  For digital die-hards, you can use a system like SendOutCards.  Take handwritten communication beyond prospecting clients.  Use this strategy for getting noticed by professional centers of influence.  It demonstrates a level of class and grace that will put you at the front of the line in your marketing and relationship management efforts.