Episode 70: Prospecting Through Relationship Marketing With Janice Porter
Janice Porter
For Janice, it’s all about relationships! First and foremost is her family – she is very proud of her two daughters, and appreciates the support of her husband through all that she does. Having an innate curiosity, she has leveraged that into building business relationships and teaches others how to do the same.
Connecting people is a skill that Janice uses, when needed – and in particular, when she feels that it will be managed most professionally - as she holds her relationships very dearly. Her passion is working with people who want to build their businesses through relationship marketing and networking – and she does that using online and offline strategies. LinkedIn training is a huge part of Janice’s business.
She believes anyone in business needs to have a professional LinkedIn profile, and that LinkedIn is a powerful, under-utilized online platform for attracting new clients, new referral partners, or being found by recruiters. Staying connected, and nurturing relationships comes next – and Janice shows clients how to implement a “tangible touch” follow-up system with clients, prospects, and associates to stay in front of them, while at the same time celebrating and appreciating them on a consistent basis.
Janice really values the friendships and business relationships she makes and when she meets someone new is always thinking: “How may I support you?” You can listen to Janice on her Relationships Rule Podcast on Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, Spotify and most other podcast platforms.
You should have an advantage in today’s competitive business landscape, where customers have countless choices. Relationship marketing is a powerful strategy that goes beyond sales; it’s about fostering long-term connections with your clients. Janice Porter, the host of Relationships Rule Podcast, shares her secret on prospecting in her business through relationship marketing. She also shares her insights on connecting with people through LinkedIn and emphasizes the value of business relationships. Janice also explains how to implement a tangible touch follow-up system. Learn to invest in building connections and see the tremendous returns it brings to your business. Hop into this episode with Janice today.
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Prospecting Through Relationship Marketing With Janice Porter
Janice Porter is a LinkedIn trainer, relationship marketing specialist, and podcast host, and she is all about relationships. Having an innate curiosity, she has leveraged that into building business relationships and teaches others how to do the same. Her passion is working with people who want to build their businesses through relationship marketing and networking, and she does that using online and offline strategies.
LinkedIn training is a huge part of Janice's business. She believes anyone in business needs to have a professional LinkedIn profile and that this is a powerful and underutilized online platform for attracting new clients, new referral partners, or being found by recruiters. Staying connected and nurturing relationships comes next and Janice shares with clients how to implement a tangible touch, and follow-up system with clients, prospects, and associates to stay in front of them while at the same time celebrating and appreciating them on a consistent basis.
Janice values the friendships and business relationships she makes when she meets someone new and is always thinking, “How may I support you?” I can vouch for that because that's how I met Janice. She is also the host of Relationships Rule. This is a podcast on Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, Spotify, and any other podcast platform. I am excited to dive into this because as you all know, this is a topic very close to my heart as well. Janice, welcome to the show.
Thanks so much, Sara. I'm very excited to be here.
I'm happy to have you on the show because I like what you stand for and even though we ended with Relationships Rule, tell us a little bit about your podcast. Why do you think relationships rule?
For me, it's always about people. I was thinking about this question because I knew you were going to ask this question. What's what was funny is what came to mind was a bit of a movie buff and I love movies but the movies that I like, I would call them more films than movies. They're more drama that gets into character a lot because it's about the people. It's not the big adventure films that I like. I like to get into what makes somebody tick or give enough depth to the character that I want that I'm in that I want to know more. It's the same. It's always for me about the people.
After everybody and their dog was saying, “Janice, you should write a book,” I decided that I didn't want to write a book but maybe I'll start a podcast because I love talking and I love talking to people. That's how Relationships Rules started. It was about interviewing people who perhaps think the same way I do as I know you do that it's important that you build relationships with people. That's how it started. It's finding out how people tick and what makes them tick and knowing that they get what I'm talking about.
I love that analogy of comparing it to a film and character development, character arc, and how they interact with other people. I agree with you. I have never thought about it from that angle. Did you ever watch Ted Lasso on Apple TV? I rewatched it. We won't spoil it for anyone but everyone, go out and watch it if you haven't seen it. I was thinking about some of the characters that are more of the “bad characters” or make mistakes in their relationships with other people. I thought they did such a nice job of recognizing that humankind has this innate connection and if you connect to the human piece first, you can manifest any results you want.
It's funny that you mentioned that show because I didn't watch it when it was first out. My girlfriend had a bit of a personal connection to Jason Sudeikis. She kept saying, “Are you going to watch it?” I'm like, “I never did.” During COVID, we did a binge-watch of it, and it wasn't what I expected. It was all about character and the interesting people on the show. That's like Shit Creek. That's the other one.
It's nice that those shows are coming around because they're about nice people.
Big mistakes. They're human.
You want to watch movies and films of people that you want to root for. In business, it's the same thing. What you're putting with your podcast and the whole platform is around making sure that you're elevating others, doing it with kindness, and shining a light on good people. I love that.
Thank you.
Relationship Marketing
Let's talk a little bit about your bio. I introduced you as a relationship marketing specialist and I had never heard those words strung together. Can you dive into a little bit of what relationship marketing means?
It's funny because I, for a couple of years, was trying to find this umbrella that would work for the two things that I love to do. One is my LinkedIn training and the other is something I know that we'll talk about, which is my greeting card and gifting piece that I sell to people if you put it in the simplest terms. It's a tool. LinkedIn is a tool that I use and so is the sending of the cards.
In both of them, I wanted to find that connection. That was a new term at the time that had come up, relationship marketing. I said, “That's it. That's what I do.” The thing about it is that a lot of people when you hear the term relationship marketing, they think of marketing. That's what they hear, “This marketing. It's all about what I can get by pushing stuff out there.” It could be about mining your database or your activity with your customers and so on.
I was looking at my notes because it came from one of my mentors who is the owner of the card-sending company that we talk about it's the first word that comes that's more important, the relationship word. Relationship comes first and it must be the primary focus. What does that mean? It means to come from your heart, treat people well, pay attention to what's happening in the relationships that you're having with people, and not just connect with someone on LinkedIn and then pitch them something.
It means looking at what they're doing and finding a way to show that you paid attention. It's the little things that count. The biggest piece about relationship marketing as I see it is at the end of the day, people don't buy your products or services. They buy you because they learn to trust you or they've gotten to know you and they feel comfortable with you. That's what relationship marketing to me is.
I liked how you laid that out because I feel like when people hear the term marketing, they think of email blasts, marketing funnels, and more of the tactical aspects of marketing. I also think people connect marketing with a brand but almost the way you described it, relationship marketing is almost like your personal brand that you're building and how you're making others feel. I resonate with that because, in my experience, it's always been a relationship-heavy sales process.
I have a big sales background but if I could prioritize the relationship, the sales part would become easy. I like that you coined this term or applied it to your business because this applies to anyone in whatever role they have. How are we as individuals relating to other people? How are we building relationships? How are we using the marketing piece in a way that builds our brand authority?” That's what I'm hearing from you.
“How are we approaching the sales process?” If we rush it, we're not building the relationship. There are some great sales books out there and some great salespeople that I've spoken to including yourself who know the power of that. That makes it so much easier.
I think about this type of stuff and we're going to get into some of the tactical strategies. Janice is going to share with us some things that we can do. In my experience, I have to make an effort to prioritize this type of activity. Sometimes it can fall by the wayside and I'm sure I'm not the only one. When it comes to relationship marketing, I would put that almost in the proactive bucket of activity. Like so many people, I hear this and I've experienced it, it's like we get so inundated and overwhelmed by doing the day-to-day tasks of our jobs that we get into this reactive space. I would love it if you could share with us some ways to maybe prioritize or focus on how we can incorporate this type of stuff into our workloads.
Creating And Nurturing New Habit Using LinkedIn
It's about creating and nurturing a new habit. We both use LinkedIn a lot and we might use it differently but what is our habit around using LinkedIn? Are we on there every day? What do we do when we're on there? Are we looking at the menu at the top and checking our notifications or are we posting stuff and not looking at what other people are posting? For me, it's all about the people part of LinkedIn.
What I'm trying to say here, and I'm going to use this as an example, I'll give you another one in a minute, is it's not about it having to be over and above what you do. It's about maybe looking at it from a different lens. For me, if I'm looking at LinkedIn on a daily basis when I first come there, I'm looking at the notifications that I receive that might give me opportunities to engage with people. That's the first thing. If somebody might have commented or tagged me in their post, I want to go see what they've had to say, comment, and engage with them.
Maybe I look at my newsfeed and I have to look at, “I need to find maybe 3 to 5 posts that show up to and comment on because I want to keep my name out there as well.” I don't do this as regularly as I suggest myself but maybe reach out and make a recommendation for somebody without being asked. What happens is the law of reciprocity takes over and it might not be that person who will come back and recommend you but somebody will. It happens quite often. Somebody else will reach out and do that. Those little things become a habit but they're also about looking at the people's side of things.
Here's another example. Somebody you reach out to or somebody who reaches out to you to connect on LinkedIn. The first thing you do, if you're smart, is to look at their profile to decide whether you want to connect with them or not so that you're bringing people into your circle who make sense. If you're going to do it, don't just accept. Look at their profile with an eye on what you can find to build rapport with right away with them. “I see you went to the same university as I did many years later,” to on whatever the school is or for example, “Are you a big fan of their football team like I am? I see you hike. Where's your favorite place to hike?” Don't start with the pitching stuff or the business. Make it about the person.
Don't start with the pitching or business. Make it about the person.
I liked everything you're saying and I want to dive into the LinkedIn stuff a little bit more because I like the people part of it. I'll summarize it. I liked what you said about making sure that it's building the right habits and when you go on LinkedIn, be intentional about why you're going on there. I needed that reminder too because sometimes I'm scrolling with no plan and all of a sudden, I waste a lot of time and it doesn't move the needle at all. I like the thought of building habits around it, especially if we're talking about LinkedIn, which is very applicable to this audience. If we're looking at it, what are the habits we're doing? I want to dive into what you were talking about with the people piece about it.
You gave three great quick things like check your notifications, see if there's anything that you need to comment on, whether it's about you or not because it could be, “This post is popular. Other people added comments.” Find those pieces. I liked what you said about if someone is requesting you, and I'm sure this is the same if we're outbound prospecting but let's say we get a request, looking for connection points is interesting instead of, “Is this person trying to sell me something? Is this person trying to get something out of me?” Instead of that lens, I like the idea of how we can add value to them even if it maybe isn't a fit that goes anywhere after that initial connection.
I liked what you talked about recommending proactively. That's been on my list for a while because I have people that I would love to do that for in my head. It’s like, “On Mondays, I'm going to write recommendations for people who have supported me and helped me. I've outsourced a lot of support. I want to help their business.” That's an easy free way to add value to our prospects and clients.
It's easy to do and it makes a big difference to somebody. That is a heartfelt thing.
It's nice to receive it without asking for one. Let's talk a little bit about reaching out to potential prospects or people whom we want to build relationships with. I am going to speak for myself. Sometimes when I reach out to people, I feel like they're thinking, “What is this person trying to sell me?” Many times, I'm not. It's just like, “We're in the same industry. We have a shared client. We have nine people in common and they're all random. How are we all connected?” I am approaching them not from a sales lens but there are bots. Everyone is being inundated. How can we use this to be more relationship-focused instead of sales-focused? Can you give us some tips?
This person might be an interesting person for my podcast from looking at their profile. Sometimes I approach a person that I have no idea who they are but I did a search, they came up and I'm looking at their profile. I'm going, “Interesting. They have 14,000 connections. I can see maybe where there could be on my podcast,” but there is an ulterior motive. There's no question that if they're my kind of person, then they will share it with their 14,000 people. There's no downside to doing it for me. It's just time.
The other thing is it is telling if people don't respond. I reach out through a connection request. Before I've done that, I've looked at their profile to see if there might be a fit. I don't always think about selling them something. I think sometimes about collaboration or about referring somebody I know that in their business, there might be a connection for them I could connect them with. That is something I like to do too. When I've done that on a gut feeling or something's telling me that this person might be a good person to connect with, it's usually been good.
For example, I had a client who has gone from a banking career to being a leadership coach. She's left. She's retired from her company and she's doing this thing. We redid her LinkedIn profile. While we were talking and going through the training, I kept thinking about this other woman with whom we had collaborated on something. She had done the same thing and they're both local here in the area. I said, “Do you know this person?” She said, “No.” I said, “I think you two should know each other.” I introduced them through LinkedIn and they were both so excited to meet each other because they had so much in common. They knew people they knew. That to me was a win.
That's an easy way to reach out to someone and add value.
Those things are great. What happens after that? I don't know that my client who I did the introduction has already sent me someone else as a referral. She's given me a beautiful recommendation on LinkedIn. She got me a speaking gig that I did. She's one of those amazing people. She gives as well. It's easy to give to someone like that when you click but you need to take the time to find out about the person. I know one of the things that people struggle with is, “What do I say after I say will you connect?” It's important first to note that don't just send a connection request. Do include a personalized note, whether you do it on your phone or your desktop. When you do it from your phone, it's not as easy.
Don't just send a connection request. Include a personalized note.
I sent someone a request that I didn't know and it was on the app. I didn't get the opportunity to add a note. It ended up being something funny. I said, “I meant to include this. Here's how I know you. Here's why.”
A lot of people don't know. Let's tell your audience fast. When you go to your app for LinkedIn, you go to the person that you want to connect with. You go to their profile and instead of clicking the Connect button there, there are three dots on my phone near the bottom. If you click that, there's one that says Personalize A Note or something.
Personalized invite. I see it here.
Instead of the one that you see that's easy, you do that one instead and it allows you to personalize the invitation.
Now I know how to do it. I have someone to request. I appreciate that. You're moving too fast and then it was a little bit awkward to go back and say, “My bad.”
A lot of people don't use that feature. I find that when I'm going through my network invitations, if there is a personalized note, I pay more attention to it because they've taken the time to do that and put something into context. When they accept your invitation or connection request, they usually accept and say thank you. They don't do anything. It's up to you to start the conversation.
Let's talk about that. I'm doing a speaking event soon. I requested all of the other speakers. I said, “We're both speaking at this event. I'd love to add you to my network. Looking forward to meeting you in person.” Probably half of them accepted with no response, which is okay. They're all CEOs of hotel development companies. I went for the big guns but a lot of people did write back nice messages and it was a sweet easy way. Now I know when I run into them at the event, it's going to be a lot easier to chitchat because we already had that little soft warm invite. I probably take it away a step further.
Take that a little bit further and look at the ones that did accept and did write something back and see if there are any of those people that you want to develop a little bit more of a relationship with before you get there because they will be the people that you want to go for coffee with. It's usually the other speakers at a trade show or a conference who have the boost. They're the ones you get the most. They could be collaborators or people who know other speaking events that might be useful for you. “Have you spoken at this event before? What's your take on it?” You could be asking people questions and have a little more intel before you get there. Where are they coming from? Find some more ways to build rapport because it will be a lot easier.
I want to message some of them and say, “I could take photos of your session because it doesn't conflict with my session.” I was thinking it would be nice to do a little photo swap because I don't have anyone there to take photos. I would like that asset and I'm assuming other people would too. You made an important point about the trade shows and networking with other vendors for collaboration partners. One of the strongest pieces we can do if we're in a sales role is to connect with non-competing vendors.
A lot of times, you're all servicing the same clients. I cannot tell you how many networking events I go to. When people found out I was another vendor, they wouldn't give me the time of day. The smart networkers are the ones thinking, “I want to add as many people to my network as possible because Sara might be on a job that needs my product and she's going to recommend me,” or vice versa. I am grateful that you made that comment because it's important.
Let's follow that through a little bit though. After that, it's about the follow-up. How many times do people come away from those events and they haven't booked time in their schedule to do that follow-up? As a sales professional, you probably do, I would imagine, but a lot of people don't. You need to do that in a timely manner. Have your list of speakers and who you've spoken to. Make sure you highlight the ones you want to go find.
If you know the lay of the land, there's going to be a break cocktail hour or something or maybe there's a coffee break you can meet people at or something. “We'll meet at the fountain,” that kind of thing. The other thing is if you can gather, and I don't know if it's with the other speakers or not, but if it's relevant to get their mailing addresses, that's good to get in a habit of doing too. That's the segue into the other piece with the follow-up. It's another trigger point that I try to remember to do.
Let's talk about that because I know that a tangible touch piece is something that you teach and practice on a daily. Can we talk about it in two areas? I want to talk about it in an in-person function like we were riffing on. Let's first talk about it from a digital side of things. We're connecting with people on LinkedIn. Maybe we say, “I'd love to do a quick meet and greet to keep you in mind for future networking purposes. I'd love to learn more about your business and who I can refer to you. I have this talk and it might be a great fit for your upcoming convention,” whatever way you're building that relationship. You're on your meet and greet on Zoom. How do you get people's physical mailing addresses?
Send Out Cards
I ask them but I don't ask them at the beginning of the conversation. I ask them towards the end of the conversation and we might even be talking about SendOutCards, which is the company that I'm affiliated with. If we are, then I say, “Would you mind if I got your mailing address?” “Sure.” If I’m not talking about it, I do sometimes say, “Before I forget, could I get your mailing address?” They go to their mailing address. They look at me sometimes and I say, “I like sending cards. I'm not going to sell it to anybody. Don't worry,” and they'll give it to me or sometimes they give it to me because we've already built that rapport. They're not uncomfortable doing so.
That has become a habit for me. Sometimes what I do is take a screenshot of that first conversation so that I can put their picture in the card and my picture. I'll take a screenshot of us, put their picture on the front, and then put both of us on the inside so they remember me as well. I put the first date of our conversation. At the end of that day, however many I've had that day or cards I want to send, I go and send those cards. It's part of my routine. It doesn't become what we talked about as an extra burden because it's part of what I do.
You built the habit of doing it. Pre-COVID or pandemic, it was easy because people worked at offices. My grandma was a very big thank you card person. If you did not write her a card, you would not get a gift. I learned that at a very early age. Thank you cards have always been something that has served me very well. It was a habit that I got into because you wouldn't get a Christmas gift ever again if you didn't. She practiced what she preached. She passed away but I have stacks of cards from her saying, “Thank you for coming over and replacing our refrigerator filter.”
She should have known my mother. My mother was like that. She would send cards to the butcher, the baker, the fish, or the monger thanking them.
My grandparents too. They would make cookies and give them to their doctors, the valet guys, and banks. Everyone knew who they were but they took the time to do it. That activity is something that we've all forgotten about. The pandemic made it hard because people aren't in an office. It's a lot more difficult to get their cell phone number or physical address to send them stuff. I appreciate that you do it.
I ask the very odd time somebody will say, “Thank you but no, don't send me a card,” because they're eco for chopping down trees. They didn't want us chopping down trees but very rarely. I had two messages on LinkedIn a day apart from people who received cards from me for the first time. In both cases, they were excited to get something in the mail that was positive and heart-warming that it meant so much to them. That's the thing. People are starving for that.
It's nice that they followed up with you and said thanks.
That was very extra and kind of them to do that. It does show that people do appreciate it and certainly didn't have to because that's the other piece about relationship marketing the way I see it. The way I teach it and learned it was send out to give, don't send out to get. When you send out to give, that law of reciprocity again brings you tenfold what you send out. You must send something out and let go of it.
I had an audience, she will know who she is, shout out to Natalie, I'll give her a shoutout. She sent me an email and said, “Would you be comfortable sharing your email or physical address?” I said, “Yeah, here it is.” I got a beautiful box in the mail. It was a beautiful card about how the show has supported her and bawling tears when I got it because it came at an important part when I needed to receive something like that.
I've shared this with you, Janice. I know the audience has seen it on social and I did an episode. I have a big poster board in my office. It’s when people help me in my business or if I get physical cards. I have a nice little group of cards from 2023. In 2024, I received one from you. It's so nice to have a physical reminder of the support that I have and the impact that I'm making. I very much feel the love when I get them. It's such a wonderful feeling that doesn't take that much time, money, or effort to do
When you get in the habit of sending them out, it feels better. It feels so nice to send that kindness and spread joy because you said something, which happens a lot. The card arrives when it's needed. It's amazing how many times that happens. I've got story after story about that. I can never remember them all at the same time. It's so beautiful. That's what happens.
I'll do anything to help Natalie. I pitch her all the time in my networking because I know her product too. I know it wasn't from a place of she wanted my business. It was like, “I'm getting value out of what you're putting out. Keep going”. That is the biggest takeaway when you talk about the law of reciprocity. If you do something without the getting piece, it always comes back to you because it keeps you front of mind a physical thing. It's like people hang out in their offices.
When I left my company, I wrote thank you cards to some of my different leaders. It was a difficult decision to leave but I wanted them to know how much they impacted me. I know it made a big difference. Some of them were not mushy people but I'm allowed to be my authentic self and not work for me. Let's talk a little bit about the service that you use to send out the cards.
It's an online service. It's web-based. The physical company is in Salt Lake City, Utah. If you ever want to go down there from where you are, let me know. I'll send you on a tour.
Maybe I will. I'm in Utah.
I'll introduce you to the person to take you on that tour and it'll be great. Anybody and everybody that works at that company has the same wonderful personality of giving. It's lovely. You have an account. You go online either on your desktop, laptop, device, or phone. You also have an app. Choose from the cards that are there and there are thousands of them, create your own, or use our template, what we call photo drop cards where you'll see photos in cards and you can drop your photo in place of the one that's there. It's semi-made for you already.
From a business standpoint, the beauty of this is two things that happen. 1) I talk about taking an image of a screenshot, even to get the idea across it. When you put somebody's photo on the front of the card, even their LinkedIn photo because that's usually a headshot so it's much more professional than what the screenshot would be, they never throw it away. It's like, “Keep it.” Somebody sent me a crazy card for my birthday and it's got an elf on the front. “Janice, it's your birthday like Christmas but the day is about you.” You choose your card and write your message. You've got a lot of fonts to choose from or you can add your font into the system and your signatures.
The beauty of these cards is you can brand the back of them. You can brand them with your logo and business information on it, even your picture or put fun things on the back. It's entirely what you want to do. Keep in mind that you're making the entire card about the person to whom you're sending it, not branding the front of the card and making it about you. The hardest thing to get realtors and mortgage brokers to do is to get themselves off the front of the card. We've done it. I've done it thousands of times and they get it. Their branding is on the back. You hit send. Our company prints staff stamps and sends the card for you.
I love the idea of putting people's pictures because, in different sales roles that I've been in, I did a lot of networking events. I was always on construction sites so I took pictures of the team on the top of the tower. I'd find different ways to take pictures. People are taking photos because they want to promote it on LinkedIn or put it on their social media. How cool to take it to the next level and send a follow-up. “Thanks for attending our lunch and learn. Thanks for attending our event,” and then have a picture of it. What an easy way to mint it.
If you did a selfie with them or something, you put that inside the card or whatever it is. I've had more cards. When my granddaughter was born, I got to post one picture. I'm not allowed to post a lot of pictures of me holding her. I got more cards congratulating me with my picture and my granddaughter on the front of the card because they knew that would bring joy to my heart.
I like that it's like a portal. You do it. You don't have to go find the stamp or walk to the post office. Those little things are what bog us down on getting it done because we're busy people.
I had a book that I was sending to somebody and it's in an envelope. I labeled it and everything. I went to the post office and the lady in the post office said, “Where are you sending this? There are a lot of storms. I recommend that you wait a week or so.” I said, “Okay.” It's still in my car.
Returning stuff. I used to miss the return window and not anymore.
If I want to send some brownies to somebody, a mug, or something to thank them for a referral, I go onto my site and send it.
You can send cards and gifts. That's amazing if you're not physically there too. I know a lot of people who travel a lot for their jobs and then they go meet people in that town but that's not their home base. How great to do a follow-up, “Thanks for hosting me. Thanks for the lunch and learn. Thanks for this project or specification.” I love it. I've been playing with the portal because you gave me access to it. I've been using Dolly on AI to generate custom images.
One gentleman that I'm working with, we had a chat. He was talking about Emos being the best birds. I went on Dolly and was like, “He lives in this town in Massachusetts. He likes Emos. He has got a book.” I put in five words about the person and it's been hysterical. I got texts from people who got their cards and it was like, “It's a schnauzer wearing a sailor outfit with a caviar plate.” It's customized to them too. They're not throwing it away anytime soon.
I'm going to have to try that. That's so fun.
It's easy. You save it and then upload it into the portal. It's been fun because I can show my authentic self in it too. It's another way to differentiate.
The other thing is that you can use Canva, create individual things there, bring the image into SendOutCards, and do it. We do have a little bit of a pitch I'll throw out to people only because it's a great way for people to start. As long as they understand that you can start a new habit, it may take longer than this to start a new habit but it's a way to see if you like the idea. We have what we call the 10 Card Challenge and you took that. You set up an account and pay $20. You get 10 cards that you can send within 20 days. Those cards also include postage anywhere in the world. If you think about it, that's $2 a card including postage.
I had a prospect that I was talking to and I sent them a thank you card. I onboarded a new client and I sent her a card. I got into the habit but it's fun. I enjoyed it.
It's in my blood. I sent my granddaughter a Valentine's card. She got it. I sent it here so that I could see her open it when she came over. She was over the day before Valentine's Day. I sent her a little gift with it too. The card I sent her was a photo drop card. It had a place for X's and O's and it had two places where the O's were to put her photos in there and photos of her in there. When she sees the front of the card, that's her on it. She's only four. That was pretty cool. She's into X's and O's either for playing X's and O’s, tic-tac-toe, or kisses and hugs. That was fun.
She's a kid. It’s easy to write that. From a sales perspective, it is genius because it’s like, “Here's me and you, little buddies on our card.”
It's being able to be top of mind, show people that you care, and have a little fun with it if that's the nature that you want to do. Also as you were doing, it shows that you were listening and you paid attention to what they cared about or what they had to say. That in itself is a bonus. My favorite type of card to send is what I call to act on your promptings cards. Someone comes to mind or I saw on Facebook that you lost your dog, you had a new grandchild, or you ran the marathon, and you grab that picture and put that on a card, it’s maybe a flat card.
On the back of it, you say #FridgeWorthy, a photo memory or, “Here's one for the fridge,” or something like that, “Congrats.” No branding or anything like that. Just that you paid attention. Those are the most fun. When you send cards for those offbeat holidays, everyone sends Christmas cards so why don't you send a Thanksgiving card because you'll get there before the Christmas cards? Valentine's is a great time to send cards because you can show your clients that you love them. Christmas in July, send a card with a sandcastle snowman on the front. There are those such things. Do it when it's not expected.
There are so many ways you can leverage this in person. I liked your National Margarita Day. Maybe you bring your clients chips and salsa and a little card from your friend Sara. There are a lot of ways to exercise your creativity. What I like about this conversation is you're giving us easy ways. Whether it's a physical tangible card or a LinkedIn recommendation, there are a lot of ways to add those nice pieces of value.
Here's one more. Pick up the phone. Does anybody ever do that?
I do more. I had a mentor and he was like, “Stop the madness. Emails are out of control.” Even if you get a voicemail or a text, “I was thinking about you calling to say hi.”
If they do answer the call, make sure you remember that they're not expecting to have a long conversation with you but they did pick up. Say, “I was thinking about you. Do you have a minute to talk now?” Ask. If they say no, then say, “It's okay, no problem. If there's a better time, text me or let me know. I'd love to have a chat and catch up.” That's it.
“Give me a call back when you're free.”
You want to show that you were paying attention
All of this is about how you are leaving other people and making other people feel. It doesn't have to be a physical car. It's everything that we've been talking about. I like that's relationship marketing. That's awesome.
I don't know if you do this. You go to the sales call and you don't get the sale that day. Usually, it takes a few times, especially with big-ticket items. With smaller ones, it might be faster. I've known this to work well with somebody I know who did this over a period of time. After the first sales call is sent or even if they didn't get the sale and they knew they weren't getting the sale, send a card that says, “Thanks for your time. Sorry, we couldn't make things happen this time. Know that I enjoyed talking to you. Keep us in mind next time.” Do something that most people don't do.
Do something that most people don't.
There's a misconception too that this is more of a trait that women do versus men. I've had many male clients and colleagues. I've received cards from them. I had someone tell me that he was working with a national sales manager. This was a multi-line rep agency. The national sales manager traveled in the territory with him and set up 6 meetings throughout the 2 days. Afterward, he got a handwritten thank you card from the male national sales manager. He's like, “I kept that card. I use him as my guiding light of what type of sales professional I want to be.” Men have almost an advantage if they do some of these things because it's even less expected.
That's a good point. Do you know who Joe Girard was?
It doesn't ring a bell.
It was before my time too. Joe Girard was a car salesman. This was way back in the ‘50s and ‘60s. He built his business as one of the top car salesmen in the world thing by sending handwritten cards that he would send for free a day. That's how he built his business. There's another salesperson who talks about the importance of the thank you card. It doesn't have to be just a thank you card or a birthday card. It’s just a card. Show that you're thinking about someone and put it into action. What we do is make it easy for that to happen and easy for you to act on your promptings.
I had much fun with my Dolly creations. I'm procrastinating a little bit but I'm having fun. It helps me learn the technologies, too. I appreciate what you said about habits. I love what you said about the law of reciprocity. Before we wrap up this interview and I let you share where people can find you, is there anything else you'd want to add before we wrap up here?
I'll say two things. My favorite quote, which was by Maya Angelou, is a quote you've probably heard many times, “People will forget what you say. People will forget what you do but they will never forget how you made them feel.” That's the motto that I go on. Remember to stay connected and be remembered, which is what I say on my show at the end. People will remember you if you stay connected but they're onto the next thing. We've got so much stuff coming at us from all directions that it's easy to forget about people who aren't stepping up.
People will forget what you do, but they will never forget how you made them feel.
In that example you shared about not winning the sale and still sending a card, that decision maker might go to a different company the next month and hire you for another project. That's happened multiple times. I love what you say about staying connected. I love the Maya Angelou quote. Thank you so much for being on the show. Please share where people can connect with you.
Thank you. They can connect with me on LinkedIn. I'm easy to find. It's @JanicePorter and my website is JanicePorter.com. They can try that 10-Card Challenge if they desire but please reach out. If they want to demo, that's fine at Janice@JanicePorter.com.
Thank you so much. I appreciate you being on the show.
Thank you.
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