Do you have a system in place that helps you let your customers (donors) let you know that you care?
What I see more often is that people either:
- Care about customers (donors) but don’t have a system
- Have a system but don’t really care (or don’t succeed in sending messages that communicate care)
That is, you want your customers to experience how much you care, and need to do this in a way that prioritizes the most important customers and doesn’t suck the life out of your communication or your relationship.
Usually what happens is either that people care tremendously but feel that a systematic approach will somehow undermine the purity of that relationship, or they figure that efficiency is really important so do things like send the exact same message to 20 people, which all 20 people see through immediately.
The tough part thing is that really caring doesn’t actually scale all that well, so your list has to remain shorter than you might like so that the roots can grow deeper.
I’ve got two follow-on thoughts on this topic:
1) My Father was Dean of a major business school in the 60s and 70s and always suggested that a hand-written note was best to show appreciation. Today, it is still very effective but often not done by the so-called “connected generation” which is an oxymoron . . . we’re much less connected today. CRM tools and Email blasts can be effective for some communications but never for appreciation.
2) My youngest daughter is in a Masters in Psychology Program at ASU and last evening she told me some advice a guest lecturer passed along to the students . . . when you get something you ask for / make a sale / achieve a milestone . . . say thank you and shut-up. Don’t assume that YES gives you permission to ask for more or re-up the ante . . . be grateful for what you were granted and THAT shows appreciation . . . and, of course follow-it up with that hand-written note that I mentioned above 🙂