What’s the most impressive thing you can put in a mailbox?

Do you know the one thing you can put in the mail that will absolutely make you stand out from your competitors?

It’s not your market reports. It’s not a well-written prospecting letter. It’s not even the request for feedback that you’re hopefully sending after a transaction closes.

It’s something much simpler: A Hand-written Thank You Note.

You can send them for any reason – any time someone does something nice or gives you exceptional service.

You can even thank your local grocery store manager for hiring such pleasant box-boys or check-out personnel. Notes like that can expand your sphere of influence by bringing you to the attention of people you might not otherwise meet.

Tom Hopkins, in his book “How to List and Sell Real Estate,” recommends making it a habit to mail 5 hand-written thank you notes every day. Of course, many of the notes he recommends are real-estate related.

Thank you notes can work to cement beginning relationships or to keep people attached to you after a transaction has closed.

With that in mind, I wrote a set of 14 thank you notes that you can use every time you connect with a new buyer or seller – or close a transaction.

Here’s a screen shot of the contents:

 While these titles form a good base for thank you notes you’ll use regularly, don’t let them be the complete list.

Thank other people as well.  For instance:

• Thank that person who answered the door and spoke with you when you knocked. (Actually, a letter like that is part of my Geographic Territory Farming set.)
• Thank the neighbors – or the potential buyers – who attended your open house.
• Thank the agents who bring buyers to view your listings. (I know, they’re competition, but your reputation with competitors always affects showings on your listings.)
• Thank the inspector who took time to explain something to your buyers.
• Thank the non-profit that sent someone on time to pick up donated items when your sellers were de-cluttering.
• Let your imaginination run wild - there are more people to thank! 

If your handwriting isn’t all that wonderful…

Tom Hopkins recommended hiring a high school student with good handwriting to write them for you. I don’t know if they still produce students with good handwriting, but it’s worth a try! You could also turn to a spouse or an assistant. It doesn’t have to be something my grade-school penmanship teacher would have loved – it just needs to be legible.

Why is a simple thank you note so impressive?

Because so few people send them. They stand out as unusual, thoughtful, and beyond expectations. Anything hand-written and personal in the mail is becoming an oddity, and when the message is “Thanks” it’s even more rare.

When is the last time you received a sincere written thank you? We may get an automated response thanking us for an on-line purchase, but it wasn’t from a human who actually did feel grateful to us for spending our money.

Remember, in this day and age, even a verbal thank you is becoming unusual. “You’re welcome” is becoming even rarer. (“No problem” makes me grit my teeth – but that’s another subject.)

Back when I was an agent and then a broker I tried to make it a point to send thank you notes. I don’t think I ever attained Hopkins’ recommendation for 5 each day, but did make an effort.

Every now and then I would get a unique response – a thank you note thanking me for sending a thank you note!

Do be careful: My silly story regarding thank you notes.

Once many years ago I decided to purchase a recliner for my husband for Christmas. The furniture store was attached to the hardware store where we had an account. The owner, Roger, was an acquaintance of ours and I enlisted his help in deciding which chair would fit my husband, Carl.

In order to be sneaky, Roger told Carl that he had a potential customer whose husband was about Carl’s size and she didn’t know which sized chair to choose. Would Carl help? Sure he would.

That was all good – we knew the size, I put the chair on our account, and arranged to pick it up on Christmas Eve.

And then… about a week before Christmas Roger sent Carl a thank you note for purchasing the chair.

OOPS!

 

 

 

marte@copybymarte.com
www.copybymarte.com

Priest River, Idaho
208-448-1479

 

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