I was meeting with a business development group this past week (yes, I know, hard to believe that networking still takes place off of the net!) and wanted to share an interesting story.
A colleague of mine is a loan officer with a bank that was recently acquired by another company. In all of the frenzy that surrounded name changes, e-mail/phone changes, he sent out an automated e-mail through a program that he'd been using...wishing everyone a HAPPY THANKSGIVING. On January 10th!
THANKSGIVING IN JANUARY? What's wrong with you MAN?
Now, we all had a big belly laugh at my colleague's expense, but it brought out a really important point. He mentioned that no less than 40 people called him, wondering if he was ill, or had been drinking too much. It might have been a big mistake, but nobody was hurt...and 40 of his contacts called HIM to check on HIM. Way to turn the tables around! At the very least, it proved that some people are reading these auto-generated e-mails that he sends around, and that they are probably worthwhile as a way to stay in touch, at least to a part of his contact list.
Now, as as an ACTIVE-RAINER, I of course have been working on him pretty hard to start a blog, and develop an on-line presence beyond the cookie-cutter programs that some companies offer. He's open to it, and we're meeting next week. In the meantime, if you want to test those auto-generated programs, might I suggest HAPPY THANKSGIVING in the middle of January, or CHRISTMAS in JULY? When you client calls to check on you, assure them that you are fine...but would be even better if they'd refer some business to you!
Happy Thanksgiving,
Brendan
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