Customer Appreciation Marketing with Cards and Brownies!

Cards can be sent for as little as 62 cents each, plus stamps. But someone who just wants to get their feet wet, without an ongoing commitment, may buy a $25 Gift Card which gives you the system license for one year, and TEN cards including stamps - send all ten today, or send one a month from now until Valentine's Day!

Why Customers Leave:

1% Death
3% Move to a New Location
5% Buy from their friend
9% Sold to by YOUR Competitor
14% Product Price
68% Perceived Indifference

Biggest reason? Perceived Indifference.
Controllable Reason? Perceived Indifference!

We market a professional prospect follow-up and client contact system for salespeople and professionals to keep in contact with their clients.
Feel free to ask me for a no-risk, no-obligation 'test-drive' of the system; I will help you send two cards to someone you care about, just to 'experience' it!

(by Ron Montri in The Monroe News)

How can I complain about the high cost of greeting cards without sounding like a cheapskate?

I did my husbandly duty for Valentine's Day and bought a card for my wife. I didn't pay attention to the price, but I should have.

When I purchase a card, I'm more concerned about the words. When you make a living with words, you can't bring home a card that says you "have a hard time finding the right words to say I love you.''

Words are very important. And the outside of the card must be pink and cute for Valentine's Day. Those are my rules.

I found the card I was looking for, but I didn't check the price on the back. Imagine my surprise when I set the card on the counter and the woman said, "That will be $7.41.''

I was stunned. Did Gov. Granholm put a new tax on greeting cards?

Note to self: Always check the back of the card to see if the price is higher than the minimum wage.

Greeting cards usually are $4.99 or maybe $5.99 for a fancy one. Add a dollar if the card is bought in Canada.

This isn't Canada. This wasn't a mushy card guaranteed to melt anyone's heart. It was a nice card but not worth $7.41.

I was trapped. I couldn't put the card back and get a cheaper one - not without looking like a tightwad to the cashier. So I paid through the nose.

Then I realized maybe I could earn some brownie points. Any wife would be impressed with a card that cost $7.41.

I was feeling a little better - until I realized that Brenda wouldn't turn the card over and look at the price.

No woman would do that. It would be like silently saying, "Okay, Mr. Cheapo, how much did you spend?''

She wouldn't notice the price, but maybe I could "accidentally'' leave the bag and the sales slip on the counter. No, she would throw it away without looking at the slip.

I needed to be very tactful, yet sneaky, so I could get her to notice the price and claim those brownie points.

I needed to say something off the cuff. Like, "This might be the fanciest card I've every bought,'' as I handed it to her.

That seemed like a good plan - until we traded cards. Brenda gave me two.

"I liked both. I couldn't make up my mind, so I bought both of them,'' she said.

Of course, her two cards trumped mine. One of her cards even played a Barry White tune when I opened it.

This must be what it's like to be cursed. I'm the only guy who could pay $7.41 for a Valentine's Day card and still look cheap.

Then she said, "What, no flowers this year?''

So I said in a not-so-friendly tone, "I paid $7.41 for that card.''

She flipped it over. "Did you know the price is on the back? You should look at the price before you buy it.''

Then she picked up the newspaper, read my column and said, "What no Valentine's Day column to me this year?''

Yep, this is what it's like to be cursed.

Readers may e-mail Ron Montri at rmontri@monroenews.com.

Let us help you! Your Grandma, who does not use the internet, has no way of opening your E-card, clever though it may be. And corporate firewalls? Fuggetaboutit!

With our on-line system for sending cards, you have a sophisticated Contact Manager that not only keeps names and addresses once you've entered them, but keeps track of birthdays and anniversaries, too! The system will send you an e-mail seven days in advance to remind that someone's big day is approaching. The e-mail will also have a link to the card system that you can click on.

Do you like to do things ahead of time? Are you a planner? You may actually choose and type messages in a month's worth of birthday cards - or a year's worth - all at one time! The system will send them out in the U.S. mail on the date that you specify.

Perhaps you will be travelling abroad - you may either set up your cards in advance as I just described, or you can send cards from the internet anywhere in the world, and they'll be delivered to your recipient in the U.S. with U.S. postage!

Face it, "boxes of cards" that you used last year, or bought on 90% clearance, or Aunt Gertrude gave you when she moved to assisted living, are sitting around for a reason: they're too generic (and/or ugly)!

I understand that some prisons welcome donations of cards and envelopes (appropriate ones) so that the inmates have some variety when writing home to their loved ones. As much as prisoners live for mail call, so apparently do their families and friends on the outside.

Whether you decide to use the Send Out Cards system, or just want to declutter your desk, please remember the prisoners if you have an overabundance of cards. They could be a real blessing to someone you may never know!

The most important part of sending ANY card is how it will make the recipients feel.

If Christmas cards were more about the recipient, or even about Christmas (what a concept), and less about the SENDER, maybe more people would enjoy receiving them.

Photos are important, especially of children or pets, but bragging should be eliminated.

Which would you rather read: "I'm the President of the PTA, was voted volunteer of the Year in Orange County, and elected to the Governor's Commission on Volunteerism" or "I enjoy volunteering, especially at the middle school"?

How about "Biff loves football" or "The high school coach thinks Biff is the best freshman quarterback they've ever seen and will likely have a scholarship to USC by junior year"?

(Exception: grandmothers love this. But you should correspond with your Grandma more often than at Christmas, anyway!)

Disclaimer: I am in the card business. But I would rather people send fewer yet heart-felt cards, even if my volumes are smaller, than flood the mail system with impersonal cards because they felt obligated to send them!

Presumably when you see those taillights driving away after a successful closing, you are waving good-bye to a new friend or two. You may have been the first "real" person they met in your town, you may have been their confidante during house-choosing (or design-choosing) sessions, you may have counseled them on which school district they really wanted to live in.

Friends keep up with friends. Relationships are built and strengthened one contact at a time. Sending unexpected greeting cards, especially during a family's first year in their new home, can go a long ways towards cementing the real feelings that you have nurtured over the past few months.

Here are some out-of-the-box ideas that may appeal to you, and will certainly be appreciated by your new clients, particularly if they have relocated from another state (or country):

Send a First Day of Fall card - talk about unxpected! The credit card bills and junk mail may have found their new address by now - this can be a refreshing sight to find among the day's mail.

ADD VALUE: enclose a Starbucks gift card and encourage them to go pick up some hot chocolate or hot apple cider and go for a leisurely evening walk, taking in the cool night air.

Send a Thanksgiving card - of course you emphasize what you are grateful for, including their business and the resulting friendship! You could choose a traditional cornucopia design, or a humorous turlkey cartoon, or even a photo of your self holding a poster that says "Thanks".

ADD VALUE: the Thursday and Friday trash and recycling schedules are often altered for this week. Place a reminder of this on the inside left of your card. In my neighborhood, Thursday is our regular day, BUT they start collecting trash quite early so the workers can leave early and go home for dinner. Many a surprised homeowner wheels their trash out at 10 a.m. (hey, it's a sleep-in day if you're not the cook), and have to wheel it back in at 8 p.m., to save it for another week!

Send a Halloween card - they may not have had time to decorate for October 31st, but at least a pumpkin or goblin card on the refrigerator can add some seasonal cheer.

ADD VALUE: tell them the customs for their city or subdivision: is it traditional trick-or-treating, or does everyone meet at a park for candy? Is it celebrated on the Saturday before October 31, or on the Witching Night itself? Do kids start ringing doorbells at dark, or earlier since it's a school night? Your new friends may wish to rearrange work or daycare schedules for that date, and may not even think to ask the 'right' questions in time!

As a SendOutCards distributor, I am always ready to help you discover creative ways to enhance your relationships and grow your business by referrals! Feel free to contact me for a free demonstration of our on-line greeting card system - I'll give you a Gift Account that will let you send two REAL greeting cards (with stamps!) from your internet connection.

If you are feeling internet-savvy, go ahead and "Click Here to Send a Free Greeting Card". Please just promise that you WILL ask me if you have any trouble or if something does not seem clear. Thanks, and enjoy!

After two months, when they see your name and return addressd on the envelope, they will anticipate - if only for a moment -