Want to Build Stronger Business Relationships? Recognize Personal Milestones

Mary Kay Ash is fondly remembered for, among many other things, her sales advice to always make the other person feel important.

So simple.

So powerful.

So rarely done!

I signed up to be a Mary Kay Independent Beauty Consultant and started my Mary Kay business as a side hustle on September 23, 2017. On September 23, 2018, I received an email from Mary Kay Region President for North America, Nathan Moore.

The subject line: Happy Anniversary from Nathan Moore

The content of the email:

Now, as an online marketer, I know that this was an auto-generated email based on when Mary Kay received my agreement. I know that I was one of probably hundreds that received the very same email that day.

Knowing these things didn’t matter.

I was touched to have received the email … the recognition and validation that I mattered.

I am a drop in the vast ocean that is the Mary Kay independent sales force. But in that moment, I knew the company cared that I was there.

They cared enough to put the process in place to send the email on my anniversary date. They cared enough to think about it in the first place.

Bottom line is they cared.

My question to you is … do you?

Do you show your customers, clients, employees, vendors, referral partners that you care about them?

Do you send thank you emails, cards, and/or gifts?

Do you acknowledge birthdays, anniversaries, and other special dates throughout the year?

Statistics vary, but experts generally agree that perceived indifference is a major factor in why customers leave a company and go to a competitor. To put it another way …

Customers leave because they think you don’t care and/or won’t miss them if they leave.

The good news is that it’s pretty easy to show you DO care … to build stronger business relationships.

For example …

• Use your email marketing provider to set up an automatic email campaign to send a greeting on birthdays and anniversaries.
• Send a card. These days our postal mailboxes are our least crowded inbox. Think about it … how many pieces of physical mail do you receive on any given day vs. how many emails?
• Sending cards is even easier with Send Out Cards. You can set up an automatic card campaign to send a physical greeting card on birthdays, anniversaries, and other special dates throughout the year. That’s right … an automatic campaign like email, but delivering a physical card in the mail.
• For an even bigger impact, Send Out Cards allows you to include small gifts with your greeting card (their brownies are delicious and always make a good impression … but maybe not if you’re in the diet, nutrition or fitness industry!).

The gesture doesn’t have to be big. It does need to be genuine.

I invite you to try it out and see how appreciation and relationship marketing can improve your customer retention and your business.