The Magic Of Appreciation in Business & Sales
One Teacher…100 Cards…
Teacher Brittni Darras was deeply shaken at a parent teacher night when a parent told her one of her students had been absent for an extended period because she’d tried to take her own life.
The student was in the act of committing suicide when police got a Safe 2 Tell report. They broke in and saved her.
The teacher, upon hearing this, asked if she could write a letter to the student.
When the student received the letter she cried saying “How could somebody say such nice things about me? I didn’t think anybody would miss me if I was gone.”
Teacher telling kids what she likes about them
Brittni Davis realized many more of her students might be close to committing suicide so over the next 2 months she wrote them all cards telling each of them what was special about them.
She hand wrote every card…so every student would know she was genuine when she said they were special.
My guess is that most of those students would hold on to those cards for the rest of their lives.
Why?
Because in our fast paced world people who show us genuine appreciation are rare.
And the people who do show us appreciation hold a special place in our hearts for a long, long time.
Free Hugs…
People are so desperate for a show of acceptance and appreciation in our society that the giving people free hugs without any strings attached became a global movement.
Show Appreciation To Everyone You Come In Contact With…
There’s a magic in showing appreciation to your family, friends, associates and the people you come into contact with every day.
First you lift their spirits…maybe just a little, maybe a lot.
They’ll also like you more and be happier to see you and be around you.
That makes life more pleasant and fulfilling for you and for them.
And you’ll also feel better about yourself and your life because the one thing you can always take control of in your life is how you interact with other people.
There’s some real magic in that.
And there’s also some real power.
If you don’t believe me just try handwriting and mailing a thank you note to one different person every day for the next 7 days and see what happens.
13,000 Cards A Month = World Record Sales
Selling automobiles is a tough job.
And in his time Joe Girard was as good as they come.
Joe sold so many automobiles he was entered into the Guinness Book Of World Records as the greatest selling retail salesman in the world.
But Joe had a secret that very few people are aware of.
He used to send out cards to everyone he came into contact with.
At his peak he was sending over 13,000 cards every month.
Joe worked out that in sales showing people genuine appreciation is an incredibly effective way to build relationships.
And when you build relationships you dramatically increase the chances someone will buy from you.
Joe Girard was averaging 72 retail car sales every month…that’s a lot of cars!
Getting The Appreciation Habit…
In life and in business the people who are saying thank you and showing appreciation to others have more fun, have more fulfilling relationships, build more valuable business contacts and more customers.
So getting in the habit of showing appreciation by email, by mail, on social media sites like Facebook, when you meet people in person…that can make a huge difference in every area of your life.
6 Comments
Excellent tips showing appreciation goes a long way most people in today’s day and age have forgotten the basic principles of common courtesy. I am gonna write an email thanking my subscribers again 😉 lol good post and I agree people will remember nd like you if you show them you actually care.
Hi Chris,
Great info! I teach about relationship building with Mobile apps in my book.
Show your appreciation towards clients and be genuine about it! Show that you’re for real and that you’re a real person! Good karma is always lurking from above for positive energy to feed off.
With mobile apps businesses are much closer to their target audience than they realize; they are in the pockets and handbags so to speak of their customers 24/7. Because of this proximity their power has increased significantly. Yet how many are aware of this?
Because of this proximity, I show them why it’s vital and key to building a cozy more familiar relationship with clients. The law of reciprocity always rewards positive feedback no matter where it comes from. Savvy marketers are the ones who will use engagement marketing through Social Media to connect and build long lasting relationships! 😉 This is the missing link businesses can build upon to have a long term connection for repeat sales with clients on mobile devices!
Great info! Any idea on how to land good clients in the mobile app space? Thanks in advance.
great tips, often overlooked especially nowadays with so much reliance on communicating online
Chris,
I am thankful for you sharing this article. t really is the greatest case study of the principle of genuinely expressing appreciation for the people we serve.
Joe Girard is legendary. For a while in my offline selling career, i used his techniques. But alas, I fell victim to the ‘make it easy’ mantra so many perpetuate online.
Well, my experience after 25 years in medical sales is that when I look back at the years where I was in the top 2% of all sales people in each of the 3 companies I’ve worked for, it boiled down to this principle.
“SHOW ME YOU ARE DIFFERENT.”
I used cards, and notes, and showing up at customers children’s dance recitals, weddings, football games, buying their kids fundraiser trinkets etc. It really does tip the scale and customers do appreciate you. It alters their perception that you are there to SELL THEM on something.
Thanks for providing great content on the web. I read your emails, and articles always.
Success Is Your Choice,
Todd
A great reminder in keeping it real and adding the human touch. I’ve sold books on Amazon and Ebay for 10 years. I always include a handwritten thank you note addressed personally to each customer in every package. On my feedback page customers mention the note and how special it makes them feel.
Great article Chris. Showing appreciation to my customers has not only helped our e-commerce startup tremendously, but has changed my own outlook on my work.
Soon after we launched, I started including a personal note of thanks and appreciation with each order we sent out. In the note’s closing, I requested our customers if they had the time to leave a review on our site for their purchase.
Prior to these notes, our review rate was about 5%. Since I began writing to our customers, over 35% of our customers have left reviews on our site, all of which have not only been positive, but very personal as well.
Moreover, having our customers know that I care and am genuinely concerned that they enjoy their shopping experience creates a positive tone even when we get things wrong. Let’s face it, items get damaged, and we make mistakes. But thus far all return requests I have received have also been extremely polite and cordial. It makes my job of providing after-sale customer service a breeze.
Finally, I would say your last point is spot on – once you make showing appreciation a habit, it no longer becomes a chore that you simply “have to do” in order to get something from others. It becomes a mindset that completely changes your perspective on the world and your fellow human beings. More than just selling products to our customers, I now have a vested interest in adding joy to their day!