While I’m a huge advocate of frequency marketing campaigns — either email or direct mail programs that keep your name or that of your business in front of your prospects and/or referrals sources — sometimes the programmatic nature of frequency campaign becomes a little too impersonal. That’s when I have to defer to my friend Vanessa Lowry, a huge advocate of the power of a personal note.
Earlier this month I was invited to speak at the annual training conference for one of my clients. The room was filled with franchisees that he had invited from across the country. My objective was to educate them about the marketing programs that we were doing at the corporate level (web development, frequency programs, new collateral, etc.) and generate enthusiasm for the support that was being provided across the organization.
I was blessed with a warm and receptive audience but the unanticipated response was a letter that I received in the mail today from a franchisee who had attended the meeting. In a very professionally prepared letter, the owners thanked me for the work that I was doing but more importantly shared their enthusiasm for how my efforts were going to benefit the entire organization.
The letter was direct, personal and timely. It warmed my heart and made my day. More importantly, it reminded me that sometimes inserting a very personal message into our otherwise carefully planned strategic programs can have an amazing benefit for the recipient as well as for the your business. Of course now I’m looking for opportunities to reciprocate.