“I’ve learned that people will forget what you said,people will forget what you did,

but people will never forget how you made them feel.”

Maya Angelou, American author and poet

Have you ever heard of Joe Girard? Joe was a car salesperson who worked at a Chevrolet dealership in Detroit, Michigan. All of Joe's business came from referrals. How did Joe become the top salesperson in the world and get inducted into the Automotive Hall of Fame?

Joe developed a system of staying in touch with his customers and potential clients. Every phone call or personal contact he made. Joe would write down on a file card any relevant information. He then sent everybody on his list a unique greeting card every single month! These weren't high pressure sales letters, just friendly reminders to let people know he was thinking about them.

In fact, Joe sent out 13,000 hand written greetings cards per month to his customers with the help of 2 assistants celebrating everything from Halloween to Ground Hog Day.

We must find time to stop and thank the people who make a difference in our lives.

-John F. Kennedy

Eight Things Necessary For Success in Business

Rate A, B, C, D or F For The Following

1. Lead Generation A B C D F2. Database A B C D F3. Prospecting A B C D F4. Presentation Skills A B C D F 5. Follow-Up Skills A B C D F6. Closing Skills A B C D F7. Social Media A B C D F 8. Mobile Marketing A B C D F

You can make more friends in two months by becoming interested in other people than you can in two years by trying to get people interested in you.

-Dale Carnegie

“By the time we are two or three years old, most of us have learned that people like it when we say “thank you.” Conscientious parents gently remind their children, “And what do we say when someone does something nice for us?”

By kindergarten, we have learned that a proper “thank you” somehow makes the day go more smoothly.

And yet, in our non-stop, sometimes frantic lives we may easily forget the importance of gratitude, the value of the often brief but vital connection we make with strangers when we take a moment to smile and say “thank you.” Civilized men and women benefit from saying it as much as the one extending the kindness appreciates hearing it.”

Robert L. Dilenschnedier, Chairman and Founder of The Dilenschneider Group, From a paper titled The Underappreciated Art Of Saying “Thank You”

Appreciation Marketing is communicating appreciation to your customers and prospects and showing them in a tangible way how much you care.

Everyone has an invisible sign on their heads that says “Make me feel important” and when you do that sincerely your customers and prospects will love to do business with you and will enthusiastically refer their family, friends, co-workers and business associates to you.

In today’s business climate it is essential for success to show how different and unique you are and how much you care.

People don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.

-John C. Maxwell

Referrals come through who you are, not what you sell. -Bill Cates

Are You Making Enough Touches?48% of sales people never follow up with a prospect25% of sales people make a second contact and stop12% of sales people only make three contacts and stopOnly 10% of sales people make more than three contacts

Here’s why it is important to follow up:

2% of sales are made on the first contact3% of sales are made on the second contact5% of sales are made on the third contact10% of sales are made on the fourth contact80% of sales are made on the fifth to twelfth contact

Why Customers Leave

1% Death3% Move5% Buy From A Friend9% Sold By a Competitor14% Product Price

68% Perceived Indifference

Appreciation and Referrals

For someone to pass a referral to you, they must:

• Know You

• Like You

• Trust You

• Remember You

What You Need To Have To Increase Business

• The Right Tools• The Right Systems• The Right Habits

Consistently Applied!

`Who Should You Express Appreciation To?

“The deepest principle in human nature is the craving to be appreciated.” Williams James

Business:• Clients• Prospects• Colleagues• Referral Partners• Employees/Partners• Vendors• Service Professionals Lawyers Insurance Agents Accountants Financial Advisors Home Inspectors

Personal:• Family• Friends• Co-workers• Service Professional Home & Auto Repairs Doctors/Dentists Hairdressers Teachers Store/Restaurant Day Care Providers Tradesmen Coaches

Appreciation – The Lifeblood of Your Relationships

How To Grow Your Garden

Daily – Water Your Garden• Pick someone from your contact manager and reconnect with

them

Plant The Seed…• When you meet someone new, start the relationship and

keep it going

Be intentional

Don’t just ask for a referral – Deserve it!

Clients/Customers and Prospects

• Do you have a system or systems to stay in touch with your past clients/customers and prospects?

• Does that system encourage them to refer to you?

• Does that system reward them for a referral?

Ways To Keep Current Customers/Clients and Acquire New Customers/Clients

• Provide a good service at a reasonable price

• Put a system in place where they will remember you and what you do

• Show them that you appreciate their business

• Serve others.

Don’t Postpone Your Appreciation

Don’t wait until you can

GET AROUND TO IT!

Do It Now

Implementing Your Appreciation Marketing Strategy

• Determine what it is you want to accomplish – personally and professionally

• Why do you want these outcomes?• When do you plan to start your journey?• Who are the people in your life who are waiting to be

appreciated?• How are you going to show your appreciation?

Ways To Say Thank You

• Phone Call – First and 10 Calls• Google Voice or YouMail.com –

Personalized Greetings• Email – FMC Birthday Cards –

HappyGrasshhopper.info• Social Media – Facebook Animoto

Birthday Videos• Drop-Ins – With or Without a Small Gift • Hand Written Note• Greeting Card• Small Gift• Facebook – Custom Audience

Raymon Ray, author and speaker, wrote an article in an American Express Forum titled “How Thank You Cards Can Build Loyal Customers.” He points out six reasons thank you cards are important:• Writing a thank you card breaks through the digital clutter of

our lives• Thank you cards show you care• Building relationships of trust and “like” are important in

business• Don’t be forgotten• Thank you cards are great marketing tools• Sending thank you cards disciplines you not to use the

computer so much

“Make it a habit to tell people thank you. To express your appreciation, sincerely and

without the expectation of anything in return. Truly appreciate those around you, and you’ll soon find many others around you. Truly appreciate life, and you’ll find

that you have more of it.”

Ralph Marston, Author and publisher of the Daily Motivator

In a blog post titled “Send a Thank-You Card’ Dr. Ivan Misner, the Founder & Chairman of BNI, the world's largest business networking organization wrote “A simple thank-you card may not sound like going the extra mile. To many people, however, it truly is. The old-fashioned, personalized, handwritten thank-you card has been largely replaced by e-mail. When was the last time you received a traditional, handwritten thank-you card? What was your reaction? If you’re typical, you were pleasantly surprised, and you appreciated the sender’s time and effort.”

He went on to say “OK, OK, so you just won’t do a handwritten card no matter what I say. Then take a look at SendOutCards.com. They allow you to send out a card that “looks” handwritten but can be done from your computer and sent through the mail. This is a great service for the “handwriting impaired,” like me. I highly recommend the service.”

According to the Direct Mail Marketing Association, 97% of greeting cards that come through the mail get opened. This is probably one of the most effective forms of marketing you can do.

Let your clients know how important they are to you with an effective Appreciation Marketing Program.

Let’s face it, sending a hand written Thank You card makes great sense. Most people would agree to that. However, let’s be honest. Sending hand written Thank You cards can be inconvenient, time consuming, costly, and easy to forget. There is a solution that makes card sending fast, fun and convenient for about a third of the cost that you are used to spending and the system never lets you forget. The system is called SendOutCards and it’s changing lives in positive ways.

“SendOutCards is an Internet-based CRM (Customer Relations Management) service that is changing lives in very positive ways! Do you ever go to the store to buy paper greeting cards or gifts? Do you believe in expressing thanks, appreciation or acknowledging special occasions or accomplishments? Do you want to increase your client base, client retention, referrals and build your personal & business relationships? If so, this system will save you stress, time, energy & money!

If you need to send a card or gift, simply log on to the SendOutCards site. You will need to join through a distributor. You will find over 15,000 greeting cards in 50 different categories. You can also create your own Custom Cards with your own photos or images . You can create custom card covers, upload photos inside of your card, include a full length video, clip art, logos, original art or a digital business card. You can even write your message in your own handwriting and sign the card with your real signature!

SendOutCards then prints, addresses, stuffs, seals and stamps the card (and they will even include a gift if you choose) with a real first-class stamp. They even drive it to the Post Office. You never touch a piece of paper, printer, stamp or envelope! It is at the Post Office within 24 hours after you press SEND. You’ll never have to drive to the card store or post office again! Send one card or hundreds of cards with a single mouse click for about one-third the price of a generic store bought card!

The system reminds you ahead of time when someone’s birthday is coming up, so you’ll actually get your cards out on time. The system can even be automated to send your cards or campaigns out for you all year long! You can send a Gift, Gift Basket, or Gift Card along with your personalized greeting from your home, office, PDA, or smart phone! You’ll never have to stand in lines, waste time, energy or money! Imagine the possibilities!”

On May 7, 2013 one of my clients posted on her Facebook page "Nurses, Teachers and Administrative Assistants are all amazing people who help society every day. But just for once, I would love to have Technical Sales Rep appreciation day..."

I thought I'd have a little fun so I sent her a card for "Technical Sales Rep Appreciation Day."

People are busy and with the deluge of emails people receive today, many of them just do not get opened. Plus, when have you or somebody you know gotten excited about opening an email – it’s just not the same as going to the mail box to receive a piece of mail that is inviting and fun to hold, open and read.

When you send a special “Thank You” card to one of your clients or prospects it shows that you really care, and that you took the time to thank them for their business.

Have Questions or Need More Information?

• http://createcustomcards.info/

Alan Gross

240.813.0614HomeMortgageAdvisor@gmail.com