by
Beth Acelin, Marketing Officer of
Rockville Bank
You have a unique opportunity to build relationships when you send a note card. When you take the time to send a note card to your employees, customers or even prospects, you demonstrate that you care. Thanking them for their interest or their business gives people the unique feeling that you value who they are. It's a good business and personal practice to make a heartfelt impact on others.
Think back to your younger years—perhaps it was your parents who taught you the importance of writing a note card. Maybe your mother sat you down and gave you your own note cards, a pen and stamps to write someone a thank you card for a gift you received for your birthday or special occasion. It was the right thing to do. In today's society, we seem to have lost this tradition—we just quickly shoot off an email or a text message. While this might take the sender "off the hook” from taking the time and effort to send a handwritten note card, it is not the same in so many ways.
People like being appreciated. They are touched when you notice the nice things they do for you, or recognize an important event in their lives. Since 2000, Rockville Bank has supported and believed in this tradition. In 2010, 47% of our employees sent over 15,000 cards. The investment in this program is minimal, but the return has a reward beyond measurement. This business practice has been a key component in making Rockville Bank successful in connecting with our customers and communities. And, it has helped to provide shareholder value for the Bank's holding company, Rockville Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ RCKB).
Sending a card is simple...it's taking what is in your heart and connecting that to your thoughts, feelings or an overall expression. Some might think sending a card is corny – or give excuses, like "I have bad handwriting," "I don't know what to say," "It's not my thing" or even "No one else does it." So, they end up not sending anything at all. But, expressing our concerns, feelings and appreciation is what makes us unique.
A 2002 Public Agenda survey found 48% of adults "sometimes" encountered people who made an effort to say "please" and "thank you;" 16% said they saw such behavior "practically never."1 Also, in a recent Gallup Poll, 30% of adults said they made a point of expressing thanks or gratitude to others only "some of the time."2
Finding time isn't always an issue, but it has become a judgment call on our part as to the level of importance of the occasion to determine our acknowledgement. Friends, colleagues, customers and relatives deserve our acknowledgment by sending a card for the appropriate occasions. We can do much more than just scratching out "Thanks for the present, you rock!" or sending an electronic message with all the animation of bells and moving cartoons. While cute, and it might make someone smile or laugh, it's not the same as that unforgettable feeling of going to the mailbox and seeing an envelope made out to you...it's all about you.
Rockville Bank employees send cards thanking customers for opening up an account, transferring their accounts, participating in a promotion or attending a community event where they visited our booth. They acknowledge significant events in our customers' lives like birthdays. They send congratulations after seeing a customer's picture in the paper for a particular recognition, and they even mail handwritten notes for family additions, like "Congratulations on your new puppy, Rex!"
So, when you think of sending a card...just do it. Surely, there is an old friend, relative, or business colleague that would be happy to hear from you—old school makes us humble and in today's world we need a little more humbleness!
1 Careerbuild.com/6 Examples of Workplace Rudeness/By Anthony Balderrama, CareerBuilder.com writer
2 What's happened to thank-you notes? Olivia Barker/USA Today Dec. 29, 2005