Dear Savvy Doula,

With Thanksgiving just two weeks away, you have some time to prepare for this marketing and relationship-building tip. Show your appreciation by sending cards to those who have supported you and your business in some way.

Who should you send thanks to?

• Past clients
• Current clients
• Those who refer business to you
• Doctors, midwives and nurses you have worked with
• Those who are part of your Team 100

If you have other ideas, by all means, go for it! If you don’t already have an ongoing list of contacts, start one now, using a contact manager, spreadsheet, database program, your Quickbooks lists, Outlook, or even something low-tech like index cards or an address book. Go through business cards you’ve collected and your past client records to help you create your list.

The cards you send can be as simple as nice-quality cardstock or as fancy as cards personalized with your logo and business information. Write a short note as opposed to running cards through your printer. This adds a nice touch of personalization and lets the recipient know you really took the time to do this.

What do you say?

• Tell them you appreciate their business or support.
• If you’ve helped them with a birth, acknowledge the family and baby.
• If this is a note to a care provider you worked with, mention whose birth you attended and thank them for the great work they did.
• Let them know that you’d love to work with them in the future and to think of you if people they know could benefit from your services.
• Consider making a coupon for some savings off future services with you.
• Include a few business cards and seal them up!
• Buy some pretty stamps and send them off. For doctors offices and L&D departments, consider hand delivering the note along with a basket or tin of sweet goodies like chocolate or cookies.

What are some benefits to sending a nice handwritten note of thanks?

• Think about how you feel when you open your mailbox and see a pretty envelope hand addressed to you. Pretty good, right? In this age of email and micro-blogging, receiving correspondence in the mail just makes a person feel special!
• Everyone likes to be acknowledged. It feels good!
• You are on their radar again, and hopefully they will think of you when they or someone they know could use their services.
• If you’ve given them a coupon, you may get some repeat business sooner than later!

Getting into the mind space of appreciation is a wonderful exercise for you. The more time we spend appreciating the people in our lives, the better we will feel. And when we feel good about those we’ve helped in our business, we often find more business coming our way.

With great appreciation for the important work that you do,

Darlene

Tags: customer appreciation, doula business, doula business tips, doula marketing, doula marketing tips, Marketing

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