Thank You Notes
One of the most effective ways of helping prospects or potential referral sources feel comfortable with you — and continue to process of positioning you as the only logical resource for your products/services — after an initial conversation is to send a thank you note. But not just any thank you note, and not worded the usual way. Typically, a salesperson will send a generic note, include their business card, and ask the prospect to remember their product or service next time they are in need. While this is not necessarily a negative thing, it also does nothing to position you as different from any other salesperson they might meet on any other day.
Instead, send a personally designed notecard. I suggest 8 1/2″ x 3 1/2″, with your contact information and a small picture of you on either side (keep in mind that human beings think in pictures). Across the bottom can be your benefit statement (a short, succinct statement describing the benefits of what a person would receive by doing business with you. For example, a good benefit statement for a financial adviser might be, “We help people create and manage wealth”).
Be sure that your information takes up the LEAST amount of space as possible. This is so your note can focus on your prospect, and it doesn’t appear to be an “I-oriented” personal advertisement. The note might read, “Dear Mary, Thank you. It was a pleasure meeting you. If I can ever refer business your way, I certainly will.” Then sign your name. Please don’t include your business card or any solicitation for business.
My suggestion is to write your note in blue ink, as blue ink has been proven to be more effective both business-wise and personally. Then, place the notecard in an envelope, write your prospect’s name and address in blue ink, and hand-stamp the envelope as opposed to using metered mail. This ensures your letter comes across as being from a friend.
If you’ll do this and send it out immediately, it’ll most likely arrive on your new prospect’s (or potential referral source’s) desk the very next day. The combination of your timing, the notecard itself, your picture to provide easy memory, and your note’s wording will be impressive indeed, and help along the next phase of your new relationship. View a sample of my personalized notecard or download a PDF of my notecard, which you can use to model your own.
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