When You Care Enough To Send The Very Best…

I’d like to take this opportunity to wish myself a very happy birthday.

(Hey, it’s my column. I’m entitled to a little self-promotion, no?)

Okay, so it’s not until Friday. But I wanted to give all of you time to find that perfect gft.

So I’ve been checking my “snail” mailbox, expecting to receive a birthday card or two from family and friends. Fat chance.

These days, no one goes through the trouble of going to the store, browsing through hundreds of cards, picking out the perfect one, writing a personal message, sealing the card, finding a stamp, looking up my home address, writing it out and leaving it in their mailbox for the post office to deliver…up to a WEEK later.

But these days, my family and friends usually take the cheap and lazy route. They send “e-cards” online. Awwwwww…they DO care!

Why am I sharing this self-serving tale with all of you? Because yesterday, I received this “electronic” birthday greeting from the salesperson at the dealership that sold me my last car:

Dear Josh,

I just wanted to take this opportunity to wish you a healthy and happy birthday! Hope you and your Honda are doing well and please remember, if you need anything at all, please do not hesitate to contact me.

Once again, have a wonderful birthday!

Wow! I’ve never been so pleased to receive a birthday card from an automated computer system. Yes, it’s only a small gesture, but who doesn’t like to receive a birthday greeting? It made me smile, made me feel good about the company - and made me want to give them more business.

Want to make your customers feel the same way about you? Send your own birthday greetings by email! Be sure to collect your customers’ birthdays, then send them a quick note on their special day. And if you’d like to send something a bit more on the “warm and fuzzy” side, send a free e-card at hallmark.com. They have free e-cards that you can customize and send in only a couple of minutes, guaranteed to make your customer smile.

A small “happy birthday” message can go a long way. If you know your customers’ birthdays, why not let them know you’re thinking about them on their special day? Send them an e-card! Or…how about sending customers an anniversary card on the anniversary of their purchase?

Everyone likes to feel important. Everyone likes to know that someone’s thinking about them. The smallest gestures can win you big brownie points – and with the help of the Internet, it’s faster and easier than ever to show someone you care. Plus – it’s another great example of the FREE promotional tools available to us via the Internet.

So what’s in store for my BIG birthday celebration? Let’s see…I’ll probably spend the day staring at a computer monitor…ruining my “aging” eyes even further…while developing carpal tunnel syndrome from typing…in an office with NO windows…on a gorgeous spring day. What fun!

It’s the Little Things…

It’s so easy to make a huge difference in the eyes of your customers. From the CEO of a large corporation to a minimum wage store cashier, any employee can impress customers enough to make a lasting impression.

Sometimes, the most insignificant gestures can leave a huge impact on a customer.

This week, I’d like to go off on a tangent and share two quick stories. They’re not entirely Internet-related, but they left an impact on me and I thought you’d appreciate them.

1. One morning last week, my wife and I went in to our local Quick Check store for coffee, as we do fairly often. After preparing our cups-o’-joe, we proceeded to the front of the store to pay. The line was unusually long that day…and we were in a hurry.

When we finally made it to the front, the cashier apologized for the long delay. “Since you had to wait so long,” he said, “I’ll give you a discount on your coffee.”

Between the two of us, we probably saved a whopping 40 cents. But somehow, we were so impressed by this small gesture. The cashier was not a store manager, but he had the authority to make sure we left the store happy, and with a positive attitude toward Quick Check. And it worked!

2. While watching “House” with my wife the other night, we were really impressed by a commercial we saw from Sprint.

In it, Sprint’s new CEO, Dan Hesse, was promoting the company’s new “Simply Everything” plan, in which subscribers receive unlimited talking, texting, Internet, email, etc. for $99 per month.

The commercial was nothing special…until the very end. The screen went black, and the email address “dan@sprint.com” flashed on the screen.

To me, this is an incredible change in direction for television advertising. Dan wasn’t just selling to us, he wants to talk with us. Love Sprint? Let Dan know. Hate ‘em? Dan wants to hear about it. Did Dan have a piece of broccoli stuck in his teeth on camera? Tell him yourself.

Don’t contact Sprint by filling out a “contact us” form on their web site. Don’t call a customer service center in India. Email the CEO directly.

Wow. By simply flashing an email address at the end of a TV commercial, Sprint impressed me - big time. Don’t you wish every company was interested in starting the same type of dialogue with its customers?

(By the way, if you want to reach me personally, it’s josh@gostampless.com.)

You can watch the Sprint ad here.

From a lowly cashier to the millionaire CEO, the smallest little “extras” can leave a great big impression on a customer, no matter how insignificant they may seem to you.

Here’s one you can implement right now: respond to your email inquiries immediately.

You have a unique opportunity to delight your customers with a prompt, professional response to their email inquiries. After all, if you sent an e-mail to a large company and received a response within two hours, wouldn’t YOU be impressed?

They say “you never get a second chance to make a first impression.” It doesn’t take much to make that impression last. Keep your customers for life. Try to look for more of these kinds of opportunities every day.