The other week I got a call from my 4 year old daughter Holli. She said “daddy you got a letter… Can I open it?” I hesitated a little, then and asked her to put mum on the phone. After a few questions and telling her if it was important to put it aside, I let Holli open it.
I hear the rustling of the envelope over the phone and my daughter shouts “It’s an elephant”… Totally confused at this point I wait patiently for more of an explanation…
I hear my 8 year 
old son DJ chime in and get the suspicion that the phones been chucked aside as they begin to argue over who gets to hold the so-called elephant.
To my rescue, the phone is picked up by Cassi and she says “it’s a card with an elephant on the front” then she begins to read “Hi Ben, it’s been 2 years since we had you visit Skyscrapers BNI club in South Perth. We really enjoyed having you along. If you’d like to come visit again, please contact me and we’ll arrange a time..”
Now I was very surprised to receive this… I have received a card from them previously after 3 months, and had received 2 Christmas cards… But 2 years later, for them to still be making an effort to let me know they appreciate me, even though all I ever did was attend as a guest to a single meeting, which really impressed me!
We can learn a lot from this particular BNI club, they know how valuable relationships are. BNI as an organization is all about cultivating referrals and building business relationships. I personally don’t belong to any club, but I’ve attended various clubs and have always been impressed by the community atmosphere.
Hand written thank you cards, Christmas cards, holiday cards or even just ‘because I thought of you’ cards are amazing marketing tools that help build strong relationships. Like newsletters they are non-sales, so the reader doesn’t feel that your trying to lure them into buying something which takes their defenses down and give you some time to create an emotional bond with them.
If you haven’t got a newsletter going yet, but need to keep your customers loyal, consider greeting cards as a stepping stone into a solid customer relationship strategy. They are amazingly affordable and they can make all the difference between your prospect staying or straying when it comes time to re-purchase in the future!