A Little Touch of KindnessBeing kind is important in business networking as well as in life. Build customer loyalty with wholesale greeting cards from Send Out Cards

A little touch of kindness goes a long ways. So does a nice gesture. A piece of chocolate. A brownie or cookies.  Have you ever noticed the dish of candy in some professional offices? It’s not for the employees (although they might enjoy it too).  It’s for the clients. There’s something about chocolate that gets us into a good mood. I’ve never seen a person eating chocolate and being crumpy at the same time.  Maybe before, but not after putting that delicious treat in their mouth. And when we are in a good mood we are more likely to buy something, agree with or do business with someone.

Gail was a freelance graphic designer with the typical self-employed person’s problems:
lots of work, but little money coming in. Although her business was brisk and her billings
were high, her clients simply weren’t paying their bills. “My money seemed stuck in their
bank accounts, ” says Gail. Gail tried a number of tactics to convince her creditors to
pay – from letters that said “Please pay soon” festooned with smiley faces to diplomatic
phone calls – but nothing worked.  Desperate, she stumbled on what turned out to be a
brilliantly effective idea: bribing them with baked goods. “I would send out reminders
of past-due invoices with the enticement that if paid by a specified date, I would reward
the client with fresh baked cookies, brownies, cake – whatever they wanted. And it worked.

From The Power of Nice…Let ‘Em Eat Cake, by Linda Kaplan Thaler and Robin Koval, pp 31

They say, “you catch more flies with honey than with vinegar.” Or in this case with cookies and brownies.

Another example, my husband, who’s in the mortgage industry needed a loan closed before the holidays last December.  As we all know, things move very, very  slow right before the holidays. To expedite the loan, he send a box of cookies to the underwriter and what normally would have taken 2 – 3 weeks was done in just a few days.

Sweeten the deal!!

My mother-in-law who is going to be 85 this month lives in a small town, 17,000,  in Oklahoma.  After several heart attacks, she is very frail.  She still lives by herself and manages quite well. This morning when she was feeding her lab, Isabelle, she noticed a large tick on her eyelid.  Knowing that she couldn’t remove the tick by herself, she loaded Isabelle in the car and drove about 12 miles to the vet in the next town.  Mind you, it has been extremely hot in Oklahoma so even mornings are quite warm.

It took 3 people to hold Isabelle down to remove the tick.  When my mother-in-law asked what she owed for the service she was told, “Nothing.” The staff asked if she drove herself and when they found out that indeed she had, they offered to drive her home.  Two staff members went out of their way to drive her back home in her own car, which meant one was following to take the driver back to the vet clinic.  Free care and being chaffeured.  Now that is customer service!

Of course my mother-in-law will be sending a nice “Thank You” note.  Most people would stop there.  However, she is taking it even a step  further.  She is going to send a letter to the Editor of the local newspaper to have this great news story  about this extraordinary customer care published.  This is a win-win situation for everyone. My mother-in-law and Isabelle got back home safely…and the vet clinic will get great publicity.

The vet clinic did this out of the goodness of their hearts.  Whenever you give from the heart to someone without expecting anything in return, that is “true” giving.   Whether you receive your reward on earth or not, that is not important.  The simple act of giving is contagious and will make the world a better place for all.

I challenge you to give from your heart today without expecting anything in return.  Let’s spread goodness and joy in our world.

I found this posted on Ivan Misner’s blog a couple of weeks ago. Since I thougth it was very powerful I wanted to post it here to share with all of you. So I sought the author’s permission to re-post it. Enjoy!

1. Thou Shalt Not Sell To Me. If we’re trying to help one another get more business, you tell me your target market, I tell you my target market and when we are out in the world, we speak well of one another and refer one another. Do not try to sell me–I’m your referral resource. If I need your product or service, know that I will call you.  Use our relationship to sell through me, to get to those 250-plus people I know.
2. Thou Shalt Understand The Law of Reciprocity. If I’m sending you business, please keep me top of mind. Giving me a new client is the best thank you I can receive, and I will continue working to find you referrals if I know you appreciate me.
3. Thou Shalt Not Abuse Our Relationship. Sending me a bogus referral just to use me, my expertise or my resources for free without asking permission first is the fastest way to lose my respect.
4. Thou Shalt Not Be Late . If we have a meeting set to get to know one another and strategize how we can refer each other business, do not reschedule our appointment more than twice. I blocked a chunk of time in my schedule FOR YOU, and I respect you enough to be on time.
5. Thou Shalt Be Specific . Specific Is Terrific! If you tell me your target market is “anybody” or “everybody,” that means nobody to me. The more specific you are, the easier it will be for me to find you business.
6. Thou Shalt Take Your Business Seriously . As your networking partner, I need to know your intentions.If your company is a hobby business, it will be difficult for me to assist you. If it’s part-time, you are limited in the time you spend working on your business and working to find me referrals. However, if you’re working your business part time with a goal of making it full time, I am there for you, 100 percent.
7. Thou Shalt Follow Up On Referrals. When I send you business, please follow up with that prospect in a timely fashion–say 24 hours. If you’re going out of town or will not be available for some time, a quick e-mail or phone call to the person to let them know when you will be available will preserve your credibility and protect my reputation in recommending you to someone I know and care about.
8. Thou Shalt Communicate. If I do something to upset you, send you a “bad” referral or cause you to have ill feelings toward me, please communicate with me as soon as possible. I may not be aware I have caused a problem for you; if you tell me, I can try to fix it. Referral networking is about relationships! Relationships and referrals are at the heart of my business.
9. Thou Shalt Protect My Reputation. Most people would rather die than risk their reputations. If I receive feedback from a referral I have sent you that is disparaging or derogatory, it is as though you cut me off at the knees. Please do what you say you will do and live up to the ethical standards of your profession.
10. Thou Shalt Prepare For Success. If you really want to grow your business, then prepare to receive it. I will move mountains for my networking partners to ensure they get referrals on a consistent basis. I am a Ninja Networker–you may not always see me working on your behalf.

This was posted with permission from Melinda Potcher.
Please visit her website at:  HomeLoansAlbuquerque.com

What is it? What’s the sweetest sound in your customer’s ears? It’s not the words “free” or “special” or “save.” It is his or her own name.

Admit it, you like to hear the sound of your name, right? Well, your customer is not any different. Everyone loves to hear the sound of their name. It has something familiar to it. It has something that resembles trust. If your customer hears you say his or her name, there’s an immediate connection. He or she will immediately bond with you and will listen more intensively and pay attention to what you have to say, because you are addressing THEM directly.

So make sure you are greeting your customers by their name (if possible) and that you use their name often throughout the conversation. As a result you will have a very attentive audience.

“What’s in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet.” _Romeo and Juliet. William Shakespeare

These eye-opening statistics below only confirm why it makes good business sense to use SendOutCards to keep in touch with employees, customers and prospects.

1. Most businesses lose 10-17% of their business every year.
2. 62% of your clients aren’t taking advantage of all your products or services.
3. 91% of our customers say they would give us a referral.
4. 80% haven’t been encouraged to do so!
5. You lose 10% of your influence for every month that you don’t have contact with your client.
6. A 5% increase in customer loyalty could yield 20-80% to your bottom line.
7. Studies show that an average prospect won’t do business with you until they’ve seen or heard from you or your message at least 7 times.
8. 79% of all trade show leads aren’t followed up.
9. 66% of your business within the next year will come from your sphere of influence.
10. Only 3% of the mail we receive is personal.

Of course you won’t know what this system can do for you until you try it out for yourself. So go ahead…send a free greeting card to anyone you chose today. See how easy it is. SendOutCards not only saves you money (at just 0.62 cents a card) it also saves you a lot of time.

• No running to the card store to pick the perfect card.
• No stuffing envelopes
• No rummaging through drawers to find a stamp.
• No running to the mailbox or post office to mail it.
• Send one or a hundred with the click of a button.

Let your customers know you care by remembering their birthdays. Send them a special “Thank You.” Remember them on holidays. Let them know of any upcoming promotions or specials. They will appreciate your thoughtfulness and reward you with their business and bring  you referrals.

I’ve long made it a habit to write “Thank You” notes to all of my customers every time they placed an order with me. However, I’ve never received a phone call to thank me for a card I sent until just recently.

Grace is one of my Equine customers. She had placed her first order 3 or 4 years ago and in the meantime has become a loyal customer and a very dear friend. She has several horses who are on Tahitian Noni’s Equine Essentials and doing quite well. Actually, one of her horses has moved up from being laughed at to become the 3rd-fasted race horse in Colorado.

After Grace’s last order, I wanted to send her a very special “Thank You” note, because she really is a very special person. I happened to have a great shot of her 3 year-old horse on the day of his very first win. So I picked one of the Equine thank you notes I had made with the “Picture Plus” feature  in SendOutCards and on the left inside, I put a full-bleed picture of her horse. On the right side I wrote a heartfelt “Thank You” for her order. (SendOutCards printed the card in my own handwriting and with my own signature, stuffed it in an evelope, put a stamp on it and mailed it for me….all with the click of the “Send” button.)

Two days later, I get a phone call from Grace that went like this: Read the rest of this entry »

I heard this story about a year or so ago and it truly touched my heart. Oftentimes we think we are too insignificant or unimportant to make a difference. But it really takes so little to brighten someone else’s day. It really only takes a thought, some kindness and follow through.

Learn how a young grocery bagger with Down’s Syndrome, named Johnny, made his customers feel so special, that they came back to his store every day for more. Not only that, Johnny’s ‘little touch of kindness’ transformed the whole store.

Great service comes from the heart. I’m sure this true, very inspiring story will touch your heart just as it did mine. Is there a Johnny in you?

Watch the 3 minute movie about “Johnny the Grocery Store Bagger.”

Need a little pick me up today? Some stimulation, inpiration to start your day off right? Then watch what happened at Central Station in Antwerp, Belgium. This may raise your energy level

This story landed in my inbox not long ago and it really touched my heart. What an amazing story of customer service. I liked this story so much that I wanted to re-post it here to share with all of you….

When I wrote the book, Customer Love, I shared this story about  Captain Denny Flanagan:

As flight cancellations and delays wreak havoc on weary travelers, and planes are fuller than ever, the Wall Street Journal has managed to find a bright spot – United Airlines Captain Denny Flanagan.

On a flight headed your way, there is a pilot who is literally a gift from the heavens. For 21 years now, Flanagan, a former navy pilot, has put the friendly in friendly skies.

With his sense of humor and personal touch, he individually welcomes aboard every passenger on his United Airlines plane.

A father of five, Flanagan has also been known to buy food for planeloads of passengers on delayed flights. He snaps photos of dogs in the cargo hold to show owners their pets are safe and calls the parents of children traveling alone.

“I want to treat them like I treat my family and it works. It’s like hospitality. You stand at the door and you greet people when they come in and you say goodbye on the porch and wave to them,” said Flanagan, who is 56 and lives in Ohio.

His unique brand of hospitality includes sending handwritten notes to frequent flyers and raffling off bottles of wine.

“How ’bout that? A bottle of chilled chardonnay from a pilot,” said a delighted Paul Schroeder, a lucky United passenger.

He has developed quite a following in the air and online. One of the many posts on FlyerTalk.com about Flanagan read: “His effort rubbed off on the crew too, they were great.”

But here, as the late Paul Harvey always said, is…”the rest of the story.”

Read the rest of this entry »

I have often wondered what this first post would be about. “A Little Touch of Kindness – Building (Business) Relationships One Card at a Time.”

I grew up in Germany, and writing “Thank You” notes wasn’t really something we did, at least not in our family. We did acknowledge our gratitude by verbally saying “thank you” whenever we received a gift, but actually sitting down and writing a card, no, that was not something I was familiar with.

I was first introduced to this practice when I met my husband and came to the United States. After my wedding shower (a custom we do not have in Germany) I sat down and wrote my first “Thank You” notes. I thought it was a real nice thing to do, sending someone a heartfelt card and expressing my appreciation about receiving their gift.

Over the years, of course, I continued to send “Thank You” notes whenever I received gifts from someone, but it really made an impact after I started my own business. I would send a little note expressing my sincere appreciation every time someone would place an order. No matter if big or small. I was thankful for everything and I truly appreciated that the person chose ME to buy from. I felt special, so I wanted to return the favor and let them know that they were special to me too.

After a while I thought it would be nice to start sending Holiday Cards to my customers too.  So I started doing that. However, I noticed as my customer base grew it was becoming more and more difficult to handwrite all those cards. I started sending ecards, and although Jacquie Lawson’s cards are absolutely beautiful, it’s not the same as holding a physical card in your hand.

That’s when I came across SendOutCards. SOC solved all of my problems. I can pick out just the perfect card, (from a card catalog of over 13,000 – that’s more than any card store has on hand),  then type a message on my computer, SOC prints it in my own handwriting and with my own signature, stuffs it in the envelope, licks the stamp and puts it in the mail for me…all with just ONE click of the button. That makes it very easy to stay in touch…not only with my customers, but with friends and family also. It even created an extra income opportunity for me. How cool is that?