President, PrintGrowPro, Inc.

This past Holiday Season, I finally drew a line in my family’s sand: if you are old enough to go to school, feed yourself, be responsible for your personal hygiene, and access Face Book, you’re old enough to say ‘thank you’.

And I don’t mean a phone call (although that would be my second choice), an email, or a text message. I mean a genuine hand written thank you card.

No more IPODs, train sets, or gift cards that go unacknowledged. No more of those special die cut graduation envelopes (the ones that when the inserting is done properly feature a picture of one of our Presidents) that for all you know got lost in the mail. No more, no more, no more.

There’s a life skills lesson to be learned here and I guess I’m going to be my family’s teacher.

How about you Mr./Ms. Professional Sales Person? Are you on board here?

How many ‘thank you’ cards did you send out last month? Did you get one to:

➢ Your CSR for staying until the middle of the night to check some proofs?
➢ Your best customer for his loyalty and friendship and business?
➢ Your estimator who turns things around in less than a hour?
➢ Your new customer for that first order?
➢ That outside supplier who ‘saved your bacon’ on a rush job?
➢ The buyer who took time out of her day to learn more about why she should do business with you?
➢ Your neighbor who watched your kids because you had a press okay?

If there is an easier way to show creativity, sincerity, and humor, I don’t know what it would be. If there is a faster way to set yourself apart from the masses, I don’t know what it is (everyone can find five minutes).

By the way if you take my advice and decide to make this a part of your weekly prospecting plan, here are some ‘thank you’ card pointers:

*write legibly (duh!)
*spell correctly (remember what a dictionary is for?)
*use a quality card stock (think Crane’s)
*before you write, practice writing a line several times (we don’t write much anymore)
*sign it with your first name only
*if possible, mail your card to the recipient’s home address

Thanks; make it a great month and always try to remind yourself that the daily implementation of the ‘Rule of One’: (one more call, one more quote letter, one more task, one more lap around the track, one more serving of vegetables, one more thank you note, up one hour earlier) can make all the difference in your world.

To visit PrintGrowPro, Inc., please visit http://www.printgrowpro.com.