The Power of a Handwritten Note

When was the last time you received a hand written thank you note? I just received one from the students of a class I was teaching. It meant a lot to me and I still have it in my kitchen.  This is one way can we humanize an increasingly digital world.  In a previous post, I mentioned a story about a young woman who, on her first day of work, noticed her handwritten note on the desk of her new boss.

Justin R. Levy, a social media marketer recently sent a handwritten card to all the sponsors of a recent conference. Then he sent notes to all his clients and several other people who had helped his company in the past few months. He feels one of the keys to this is to making each note personal.

President Obama reads 10 letters a day from US citizens and personally hand writes 15 responses a week.

Chris Brogan, co-author of a new book, Trust Agents, wrote this in his most recent newsletter. “In a recent blog post of mine, Simple Touchpoints of Loyalty, more than a dozen of the comments that I got back pointed out that paper note cards sent through the mail are a huge way to show that you care. I picked some up and started sending cards at once, and the results were immediate. I can’t recommend this enough for you to use as a personal touch point to your clients, colleagues, online friends and more.” He suggests blank note cards that can be personalize with a picture or something that would be of interest to your contact.

I recently this read about a story from a former Dell employee. “My first assignment at Dell marketing was to write (of all things) an anniversary card celebrating a Dell customer’s first year as part of the ‘family’.  This left such an impression on him that, to this day, he still practices the art of the hand written thank you.

So far, I have written 2 notes (my handwriting is so terrible, I hope they can read it); one to someone I’ve known a long time who is helping me make new contacts and the other to someone who has helped me with this blog. Please share your stories about personalizing your connections. We will all benefit.

http://justinrlevy.com/2009/08/08/the-power-of-a-note/

http://www.hellinthehallway.net/2009/06/15/“what-was-i-thinking-when-i-put-that-on-my-resume”/