The Power of the Postcard
by Mark Matteson
I am constantly amazed at how stupid I was two years ago and the cycle has repeated itself for the last 53 years.
While waiting to get into the apprenticeship program for the Pipe Fitters Union Local #32 in 1982, I started a little chimney cleaning service. To my great surprise, it took off pretty quickly. I had 250 clients by my first Christmas, so I had a picture postcard made. You know the kind: the one your hip relatives and friends have made of their family at Christmas time, only with mine, I left a small space to the left in which to write a note. There I was, with my top hat, tails, chimney brush, and a big smile on my creosote-covered face. It was a big hit. One old gentleman (I call him old as I was 23 and he must have been 73; now that doesn't seem that old) called me soon after and had me come back out to clean his wood stove. As I wrote up the invoice at his kitchen table, I noticed my postcard on his fridge and commented on it. "Oh, that was such a thoughtful gesture," he said to me. "My pleasure," I replied. "No, you don't understand; that was the only card I got at Christmas. THANK YOU!" I thought of the Beatles song, "Eleanor Rigby."
My good friend, fellow speaker and social media and communications expert Kevin Knebl, shared with me how he doubled his business in a year-with postcards from the road. With just the slightest bit of skepticism, I asked, "How many a day?" He replied, "Twenty, when I am traveling, which by the way, is now almost every week." Got it. I thought to myself, "Okay, I can do ten, as a test." For the last 45 days, I have sent ten postcards a day. They cost 58 cents each and it takes a little less than an hour to write all of them. Kevin is fond of saying, "Sales is about starting a conversation!"
Wow, it is so simple. I am having so many great conversations with old friends and clients. I can't believe I wasn't doing this from the beginning. Adam Christing, another good friend, tried to tell me about the value of postcards two years ago. Hey, we are ready when we are ready.
In his book, How to Sell Anything To Anybody, Joe Girard says, "Everyone knows 250 people. That is how many, on average, come to your wedding and funeral." We'll start there. What if you wrote five postcards a day to your top 250 existing clients? That means every important client will have heard from you once by the end of two months. By the end of the year, they will have heard from you six times: six thoughtful gestures from you. Who do you think they will call when they need something?
The Power of a Postcard: who knew? As I shook my head thinking about all these NEW conversations I was having (phone calls, texts, e-mails, letters, LinkedIn messages) from OLD clients and friends in just 45 days, Kevin said to me, "Wait until you have done it for a year!"
I considered why this is such a powerful proposition. After all, results are the name of the game and I am getting results. Here are my top twelve reasons to try this:
- It's so simple.
- It takes five minutes.
- It's cost effective: 25 cents for the postcard at Walgreens and 33 cents for the stamp. That's just 58 cents!
- (Almost) no one else does it!
- It doesn't get caught in a spam filter.
- It says, "I care about you!"
- It positions you in Top of Mind Awareness (my friend Adams Hudson calls it TOMA). It says, "Remember me!" (Marketing 101).
- It's very creative, unique. I buy mine from the road: Pismo Beach, New Orleans, Vegas, Chicago, Seattle, etc.
- It's fun. Some of the postcards are hilarious. Make people smile.
- It's good business. It costs one dollar to KEEP a client and seven dollars to earn a new one!
- Your clients will reach out to you and new business will happen (referrals, projects, products and service requests).
- Like working out daily, it's good for me. It forces me to think of others. Once I get in the groove, I really enjoy it.
What If I don't have 250 clients? That's okay. To whom do I send them? Simple: customers, prospects, vendors, good friends, and relatives. All that matters is the discipline, the repetitions. Good things will start happening within 90 days. I promise.
What do you say six times a year? How about borrowing from other people who write them? Borrow ideas like:
Thank you for your friendship, trust, or business. (Mark Matteson)
You are tremendous. I thank God every time I think about you. (Charlie "Tremendous" Jones)
I like you. (Joe Girard)
To your massive success! (Kevin Knebl)
God gave me a gift of 84,600 seconds a day. I wanted to take one of those to say I am grateful for our friendship.
Happy Birthday! (Okay, so it's a little late, or early; does that really matter?)
My late mother was the queen of the handwritten thank-you note. She had about fifty really close friends because of if. By her able example, I believe, the seed of this idea was planted. Thanks, Mum.
President George H. W. Bush wrote five thank-you notes a day beginning early in his political career. He claims it put him in the White House. By the way, so did Presidents Carter, Reagan, and Clinton. I can hear the men objecting. Hey, writer Ernest Hemingway, a man's man if ever there was one, was an avid writer of handwritten notes.
Why not send postcards to your top 250 for the next 90 days as a test? Even if your business doesn't double, your joy will. You never know; it might be the only card they ever get. Zig Ziglar was right: "People don't care how much you know until they know how much you care."
Thanks, Kevin. To your massive success!
