December 1999
Ten Years of Upline
The Thank You Note - Ridgely Goldsborough
Did your mom make you write Thank You notes when you were a kid?
My mom had a standard policy for Christmas, birthdays and any other time we received gifts. The deal (mandatory and non-negotiable) was before we could play with any new toys, we had to write those dreaded Thank You notes. I remember my brothers and sisters and me sitting around the dining room table knocking out notes as fast as our impatient little hands could scribble.
Back then, I hated every "thankless" minute. Fortunately, like fine wine, I've matured.
Fast forwarding: Isn't it nice when someone sends you a short note thanking you for the lovely dinner you shared, or the weekend you spent together? Doesn't it make you feel good-- even great?
Sure does. People who send Thank You notes are thought of as gracious, well mannered-- and since so few people do-- a clear cut above all the rest.
What about in business? Don't you appreciate it when a salesperson drops you a card thanking you for your business? Aren't you more likely to remember that person, call her again, maybe even send her a referral?
Aha! Referrals...
You see, Thank You notes build trust-- the most important element in any Network Marketing business. Thank You notes demonstrate your commitment to service. Thank You notes are the perfect way of introducing new products and services to your customers (and sleepy distributors). In other words, Thank You notes build relationships-- the cornerstone of your business.
Here's a sample Thank You note I've used:
Dear ___________(Family Member, Friend, Customer, Prospect),
Thank you for purchasing ____________ (use your brand name) products (doing business, signing up, sending referrals, etc.) from me. I appreciate you.
If there's anything I can do to help you with your new products, please give me a call. I'm always available for you and want to be of service.
If you know of anyone else who could benefit from our products, please give them my card.
Once again, thank you.
Best Regards,
(And sign your first name)
It takes only about three minutes to write the note, fold it, stick it in an envelope, lick the stamp and put it in the box of outgoing mail. Oh, I know, it's a pain in the neck to write these notes. But here's the thing: Look at the bottom-line. If this were not a highly successful action, I'd definitely reconsider the pain factor, so let's run the numbers.
You write 20 notes a month which take you three minutes each.
20 notes x 3 minutes = 1 hour of your time (a month!).
Let's assume that you have 400 active people in your organization (who would welcome any edge over the competition-- right?) Half of them decide to participate in an ongoing "Thank You" note campaign. So ...
200 people x 20 notes per month = 4,000 Thank You notes.
Let's also assume that every distributor includes three business cards in each note, requesting that the recipient please pass them along to an associate or friend. Now ...
4,000 notes x 3 business cards = 12,000 potential referrals.
Can you believe that? 12,000 referrals every month and it took only one hour of your time and less than $10 in stamps and paper. This is serious leverage!!! Not only that, but the goodwill that you create is immeasurable.
What if a few simple Thank You notes generate $100 or $200 in income for a number of your distributors? (What would that do to everybody's check?) What if they then got so turned on they doubled their efforts in the business? What if one of those referrals turns out to be a tired corporate exec just looking for an out, an opportunity? What if...
It's not really a matter of "What if?" These things happen every day! One hour each month is all it takes.
| Isn't it great to live life and work with a sense of appreciation? |
Every time someone buys something from you, send them a Thank You note. Every time someone gives you a referral, send a Thank You note. Every time a new person signs up in your organization, send a Thank You note.
Get this: Tracey, a personal fitness trainer and friend of mine, sold a box of chewable vitamins from her Networking company to one of her clients. She sent a Thank You note as a follow up and included three business cards for possible referrals.
About a week later, during a baby shower at Tracey's client's house, one of the other moms there picked up the box of vitamins and asked about it. This prompted a conversation and the client passed out the rest of Tracey's business cards.
Two moms bought vitamins, not only for their kids but for themselves as well.
Tracey sent out more Thank You notes to them. One of her new customers referred her sister who bought a box, too. And on and on...
At the end of just one month, Tracey had eight new customers. One of them was seriously looking at joining her business!
Tracey didn't know these people from Eve.
The power of a Thank You note is awesome. It's one of your ultimate secret weapons. Isn't it also great to live life and work with a sense of appreciation? As a side perk, you may even find that writing Thank You notes makes you feel great.
Don't prejudge this process, just do it. Please send me feedback on how the Thank You note process is working for you.
One final note: For all your support of Upline over the years and the many yet to come, I'd like to add my personal "Thank you." Thank you. Thank you.
RIDGELY GOLDSBOROUGH is the president of Upline and the publisher of Network Marketing Lifestyles. He lives in Los Angeles, CA. This article first appeared in the November 1996 issue.
Reprinted with permission from Upline, The Thank You Note - December 1999, 888-UPLINE-1, http://www.upline.com
