I recently bumped into a business acquaintance while I was visiting a client in Virginia. I hadn’t seen him a few years, and he had changed companies since our last meeting. When I returned to my office a few days later, there was a hand-written note in my mailbox from him with a simple message: “Great seeing you again. Let’s keep in touch, and please let me know if I can every help you.” He included his new business card. Including addressing the envelope, I bet it took him 90 seconds maximum, but it left a huge impression on me.
You’re not that impressed with this idea, are you? After all, most of us were taught this idea on day-one of sales training. This post isn’t about the idea of the hand-written follow-up note, but about the dissolving of the practice of this idea and the evolution it has made from an expectation to a novel gesture.
Thirty years ago, everyone wrote personal notes and thank-you letters. It was expected, and therefore, a hand-written letter wasn’t impressive. However, if you didn’t follow-up with a prospect or customer by writing a note and dropping it in the mail, you were viewed as unprofessional. It was kind of like being on time for an appointment – you don’t gain points for being on time, but you will lose credibility if you’re late. Well, a lot has happened in thirty years …
First, the word processor became commonly used and form letters made our follow-up communication much more efficient. By the end of the 1990s, email took over and soon became the accepted method of saying “thank you”. In the last 10 to 15 years, social media, text messaging, and other technology tools have created expectations of immediate response, impulsive decisions, and a lack of courtesy. Heck, even being late for a call seems to be a badge of honor that demonstrates being busy.
In today’s world, hand-written notes are inefficient and take more time than a dozen other follow-up methods. Write them anyway. Hand-written notes aren’t expected from anyone today. Write them anyway. Hand-written notes can make you appear to not being a crazed, multi-tasking, 70-hour per week worker. Write them anyway.
If you want to surprise your customers and prospects, take 90 seconds to write a follow-up note and stick in the mail.
