Use this technique every time you have to write, be it a thank- you card, letter, brochure, flyer or a company’s ‘address to the nation’. By having a clear picture of that one person you most want to hear the message, you come across as a genuine person — which you are, as you are not trying to communicate with the whole world, just with that one important person.
Your style is your own; your message is for them and they feel it, hear it and see it as a real communication.
I was fortunate to attend a Saatchi & Saatchi ‘creative week’ where we asked one of the stars how he created a global campaign. Andy replied that he certainly did not try to put in a black cow, a white sheep or a brown dog. Or a redhead, a blonde and a brunette. Or even a man, a woman and a child.
He quite simply sat down to create something that was absolutely perfect for him. When he was satisfied, there was every chance that other people around the world would love it, too.
Ever since that workshop, I too have sat down to create for myself and just one other person who represents the buyer. If I am writing about a product for a mother and baby, I get to know just one mother and baby well and write to them. Then there is every chance that other mothers and babies will hear me as well.
This way you shift the ‘monkeys’ off your back: the gibbering voices that call at you to please the boss, the client, the marketplace, your parents, your family, your friends. When these monkeys rule you, you please no one, not even yourself. Get rid of them and you please yourself and the world.
A further tip: never start a letter or card with the words ‘thank you’ because, when people see those opening words, they think they have received the whole message. By leaving the thanks until last, you force them to read all the words in case there are other things they ought to know. And there may well be, as you might be reconfirming a further appointment or providing them with some details they had requested.
‘Success didn’t spoil me, I have always been insufferable.’
Make note-cards work for you
Think about the pleasure you get at Christmas and on birthdays when you open the mailbox and find caring messages from people you like. Perhaps you can communicate with your clients in a way that makes it clear your response is meant for them as individuals.
For example:
- You’re a doctor; you’ve just seen a new patient and prescribed a likely cure. Consider sending a get-well card and following up with a phone call to see how the patient is doing.
- You’re a travel agent whose customers are on their way back from a trip you arranged. Send a welcome-home card and ask them to call and tell you about their experiences. If they do not phone you (being busy on their return, they probably won’t), be sure to phone them.
- You run a hotel and new clients are big spenders in the bars and restaurants. You can be fairly sure, by their joyous disregard for sleep or cost and their delight in having fun, that they are Inspirers. Inspirers love a thank you and recognition. So mail a ‘Thank you for staying with us’ card to their business address. Put a note inside and ask them to let you know when a return trip is planned so that you can put a special gift in their rooms.
- Give them three gift choices and arrange for the selection to be in their rooms before arrival. Upgrade them to a better room if they have not already booked the most expensive suite. You will more than get your money back in their expenditure in the restaurants and bars as this personality type always returns a favour. Perhaps they will enjoy the experience so much that you will hear from their friends as well.
- Why not send birthday cards to everyone who has ever stayed with you, as does the Peninsula Hotel in Hong Kong? For years I have heard about and seen these birthday cards. I now think it is probably the single most successful ongoing promotion I have come across because it really suits a grand hotel to remember people in this way.
- Birthday cards can apply to whatever industry you’re in. If you’re in insurance, send a birthday card on the date of the policy renewal; if you are selling cars or real estate, send a birthday card on the date the owner bought the car, house or building. This is fun and different — and that makes you memorable.
Again, never delay sending your thanks. The closer your note is to the action, the more powerful the effect of a thank you will be on the person who contributed.
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