Writing is an important thing. Calligraphy is beautiful and also strives to be legible. How words are strung together is also important though much writing is typed and the legibility comes from the font and not from the hand. The mind however is important to both processes and can convey much more than the sequence of words convey or the look denotes.
Which leads me to the point of this post...
Thank You messages. Especially from businesses.
Perhaps you are a business person or simply someone who is mindful of sending 'Thank You' notes to others when you feel it appropriate. Many businesses do this as part of their regular marketing champaign. And it can be a good idea.
However!
In the past few weeks I have gotten three such messages from three various businesses I patronize. The first was a hand addressed envelope with a custom printed card, the front of the card had an etched image of the business, housed in an attractive old house in Memphis. Nice. When I opened it out fell a business card and a small card printed with 10% off... Nothing personal. No salutation. No signature. All just stuck in the envelope.
Another was an e-mail message that said in many words to tell me "I was appreciated." There was a nice quote from Gertrude Stein and it was 'signed' from the person at the business that I deal with. Upon closer inspection I noticed several things. My name was no where to be seen. It was sent from his assistants e-mail address and his name was in the 'To:' line meaning that it was a generic e-mail sent to all his clients by his assistant. Not personal at all.
The second note was from a retail business I frequent. In the mail yesterday was a smallish white envelope with no return address. It was hand addressed. Not fancy, yet nicely written. Inside was a flat card with a hand written note saying I was appreciated and there was a sale going on and then signed. Just a nice, legible hand written note from the store and sales person.
Which experience do you think I liked the most and said to me I was appreciated?
See you are very smart and know how to create a great impression. So how do so many miss the point?
And doesn't the assistant know there are mail programs that will place a name into the message to personalize it? From a list?
And if you are hand addressing an envelope can't you write "Thanks" and sign your name? Because if you want to tell me that you care about me the customer... try pretending for a moment that I really do matter and make the effort personal.
Or just forget it all together!
Say!
If you would like to learn more about making cards so You can send someone you appreciate a note I am having a ZenTangle Project Class on Card Making May 20th from 7 - 9pm at Studio Nysha. leave me a comment here on by mail if you would like more information. Or visit my Studio Nysha
