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What Happened to Thank You over the generations?
November 5, 2010
Last Friday my mother hit a milestone birthday. She would kill me if I told you how old she was. Let's just say it was in the range of three quarters of a century.
My wife and I organized a birthday party for family and friends. Actually my wife did all the work and I got some of the credit. My wife spent a lot of time obsessing over the details like the menu, seating chart, etc. because she wanted to make sure everything was just right.
If you have ever planned a sit down affair for 70 people, half of who you really don't know, and three quarters of who are over 70, it is a thankless job. All in all it was a very nice affair and everyone including mom and dad had a great time.
End of story... Until Saturday!!!
On Saturday, my uncle and aunt both called to thank us for the wonderful party. My mom and dad both called to thank us for the wonderful party. Ok, that's to be expected since it was in their honor, and it was nice to be appreciated for the efforts.
On Monday we received three thank you notes from their friends which all had to be mailed on Saturday. On Tuesday we received another couple of thank you notes including one from mom again reiterating what a nice party it was. On Wednesday we received another three thank you cards that probably were mailed on Monday. A couple of these were from people I did not know all that well, like neighbors of my parents. On Thursday a few more.
All the notes were personalized, heartfelt, hand written on personal stationary. And all of them took no more than 5 -10 minutes each to write and mail.
A week ago we were just glad to get through the affair because of the extra effort required. Now we are thrilled because people have called and written to thank us and let us know what a great time they had.
A few takeaways for you today are as follows...
First, it has been a long time since I have been thanked for the extra effort, though I tend to think I provide extra in a lot of things I do. My mom and dad's generation were ingrained with common courtesies like writing thank you notes. It is a shame that some of that has been lost over the years because it feels real good to be acknowledged for the extra efforts.
Second, for me personally, I probably am the receiver of the extra effort from people. I need to remember how good it felt to receive the hand written thank you note and try and write more of them myself.
Third, my mom's of an age and a generation that does not do email. Or if they do, it has not seeped over to the fine art of thank you notes. Frankly an email thank you is nice, but not near as pleasing as receiving an actual hand written thank you note on personal stationary, with a personal stamp, addressed personally to us.
Finally, how can you apply the lost art of the personalized thank you to your business? If you are a rep, do you send thank you notes to customers for new placements or ongoing business? If you are a retailer, do your sales people all send out handwritten thank you notes on their sales?
In some cases you may say it's a lot of work. It is! On the other hand, if the thank you note is written sincerely it will make such an impression on the recipient because hardly anyone does it anymore. Consider part of the relationship building.
And remember, I'm not talking about an email, or a computer generated deal. Those are nice if you can't get them done any other way. But nothing beats a hand written thank you on personalized stationary with a real stamp on it.
One of the tips from Joe Girard, listed in the Guinness Book of World Records as the "World's Greatest Salesman" was he hand wrote thank you notes to every customer he ever sold a car to. If it's good enough for him, it should be good enough for us!!!
Thank you for your continued interest. Have a great selling day.
Posted by Mike Root on November 5, 2010 |
Comments (14)
April 24, 2012
In response to:
What Happened to Thank You over the generations?Natcha commented:
Well, it's really only four full years, unesls you're counting inclusively, which is an admirable thing on all accounts. I'm only starting the fifth year now.Thanks everyone!Once I get over the hump of some books I'm working on, I hope to get back to translating the Apophthegmata Patrum, especially. That's a project I've left aside for too long.
November 17, 2010
In response to:
What Happened to Thank You over the generations?Peter Crover, John-Richard Co. commented:
Congratulations on a column well written. You are so right, and so very much timely in this message. At a point when our industry so needs to "reinvent" itself, and be grateful for any and all orders, how better to make an impression of class and professionalism than a civilized, hand written thank you? Each and every time I have done so, the rewards have been just that - rewarding. One certainly makes the recipient feel very special. Thank you, Mike, for planting this seed of wisdom.
November 15, 2010
In response to:
What Happened to Thank You over the generations?Mike Root commented:
I appreciate all the feedback on the topic of this column. Everybody mentions old school techniques. I would love to hear some other old school techniques that may resonate with people in our industry to bring back what was once forgotten. Drop me an email at meroot@mikeroot.com and if relevant I'll write a post about it. Thanks, Mike
November 15, 2010
In response to:
What Happened to Thank You over the generations?Mary Frye, HFIA commented:
Mike, Thanks for the good reminder of the value of a personal, sincere thank you note. It is easier than any of us might think to stand out from the crowd by doing things we know to do, that are easy to do and that we've had good success with in the past. If we would all remember to do those things in business that we enjoy experiencing when we are the receiver, we'd probably find more ways to postively connect with one another. Thanks for passing on your good experience.
November 10, 2010
In response to:
What Happened to Thank You over the generations?TB commented:
Mike,
A great topic and column that has been lost and forgotten....regardless of the industry. Five years ago I was a regional manager for a medium size casegoods company. I met a gentleman in our showroom who was interested in picking up the line.
About a week later, I received a hand written thank you note. It had been years since I had received a hand written note....and yes he was hired.
Was the hand written note the only reason he was hired? No, but it sure did help me make a decision. The note told me he was able to connect and communicate in this e- world.... a class act that I never forgot.
Thanks for reminding me about this simple gesture.
November 10, 2010
In response to:
What Happened to Thank You over the generations?J Schulman commented:
Mike,
A twofold reminder that sending personalized notes of appreciation are part of being a member of a civilized society AND the much misunderstood objective case of the pronoun "who". This case was the least taught conjugation at my school and it's always a special treat to receive a grammar lesson from the FT website.
November 9, 2010
In response to:
What Happened to Thank You over the generations?jcoupes commented:
Hi Mike,
I come across at your blog while looking for furniture blogs that could relate to this site www.arnoldsofficefurniture.com . Well, I could say that in this new era the cyberspace has the biggest place for socializing. Things made possible by increasing technology. But still, even though I was still in 20s I appreciate more the thoughts of "old school" rather that modernization. Nice story you got there.
November 8, 2010
In response to:
What Happened to Thank You over the generations?Tim commented:
Mike,
Absolutely agree that the hand written thank you note makes a huge difference and is something you remember the next time you meet the person. Good point for all sales people to remember.
November 8, 2010
In response to:
What Happened to Thank You over the generations?Tim commented:
Mike,
Absolutely agree that the hand written thank you note makes a huge difference and is something you remember the next time you meet the person. Good point for all sales people to remember.
November 7, 2010
In response to:
What Happened to Thank You over the generations?Ron PMP commented:
Mike-
I'm glad to hear I'm not he only one. In the days of "overloaded" electronic media, 2 yrs ago I started sending hand written thank you notes to prospective clients interested in hearing what I had to say. In fact, while having a meeting with one, the mailman came & while we were talking he saw my letter & opened it in front of me - now do you think that helped me close that deal?
November 5, 2010
In response to:
What Happened to Thank You over the generations?Speedy commented:
Thank you for that awesome article! It hit home both for be personally and in my business life. You are right on with youyr thoughts! I am going to share this with many of of my friends and family.
November 5, 2010
In response to:
What Happened to Thank You over the generations?Speedy commented:
Thank you for that awesome article! It hit home both for be personally and in my business life. You are right on with youyr thoughts! I am going to share this with many of of my friends and family.
November 5, 2010
In response to:
What Happened to Thank You over the generations?E. B. White commented:
Dear Mike,
Thank you for a great article. The first sentence of the third paragraph should read..."half of WHOM...three quarters of WHOM..." The objective case of the pronoun is used when following a prepositional word or phrase.
P.S. Remember to "fall back" this Sunday morning at 2:00 A.M.
November 5, 2010
In response to:
What Happened to Thank You over the generations?THOM commented:
Welcome to the wonderful new world of the social network.. Less patient, less personal, less friendly... and all about how many friends one might have on their facebook account..
Great message Mike! Maybe we can bring back some of these "old school" traits in our daily lives.. I know I will try..
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