WHEN IT COMES TO COLD CALLING THERE'S REALLY JUST ONE ICON.

I'm Mr. Cold Call. And I'm a "Thank You Note O-Holic"
by Mr. Cold Call

It’s important that I get my feelings out and by doing so I’m hoping that I will inspire other cold callers to do the same. Are you ready to hear what I’m about to say? Ok, here it goes….My name is Mr. Cold Call and I am addicted to writing handwritten thank you notes to my prospects. I write thank you notes all the time—sometimes three, four, five or more per day.

There are even days when I feel guilty when I didn’t write someone a thank you note and knew in my heart that I should but decided not to because I didn’t want to take the time to write one. Then, after a few minutes, the guilt began to settle, I find a pen in my hand and then I begin writing my prospect a handwritten thank you note. I also have other rules that you should know about as well. For example, my rule of thumb is this, If I’m on the phone with a brand new prospect for more than five minutes I write them a handwritten thank you note.

This compulsive behavior sees no light at the end of the tunnel. Another example of this behavior is the fact that I’m writing thank you notes after each sales meeting with my prospect. You want another example? Ok, fine, I write thank you notes if a prospect or a customer gives me a referral. Not good enough? I write thank you notes after I close a sale with a prospect. My compulsive behaviors are rooted even deeper, how so? Because in certain situations I’m even writing thank you notes to my prospect’s gatekeeper. Again, is there a light at the end of the tunnel?

I’ve tried to stop but nothing seems to cloud my impulsive behavior. What thoughts are running through my mind as I do this? My thought process is that each day our prospects are bombarded with all types of stimulus from emails to the internet to television. We live in a fast-paced society where our prospects have short attention spans and use their lack of time as a defense mechanism. Their lack of time becomes an excuse as to why they are too busy to take or return our telephone calls.

A handwritten thank you note counteracts all these thoughts. It slows down time and makes them feel important. A handwritten thank you note screams out to our prospect that they are worth your time and effort because you took time out of your day to write your thoughts down on paper. While there is no way to freeze time, there is a way to warm it up and one of the best ways to do that is by writing a handwritten thank you note. Can you now understand why I’m a “Thank You Note O-holic?”