Speaker 1: Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of iHeartRadio. Good Morning.
Speaker 1: This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast. Today's
Speaker 1: tip is to make your fingerprints visible. Let people know
Speaker 1: that you are the person behind the product or service
Speaker 1: you're providing, and they will probably feel more excited about
Speaker 1: the transaction in general. So every now and then, when
Speaker 1: I order something from a small business, I receive a
Speaker 1: handwritten note from the owner. It is always a delight
Speaker 1: to know that somebody actually cares that I have ordered
Speaker 1: something from them. Even if I've never met this person,
Speaker 1: I immediately feel like we are friends. I doubt I'm
Speaker 1: the only one to have this reaction. So if you
Speaker 1: are in the business of providing products or service says
Speaker 1: to people, go ahead and make your fingerprints visible. Include
Speaker 1: a note when you ship a product to people. If
Speaker 1: you have provided a service, write a note to the
Speaker 1: people who purchased it and thank them for doing business
Speaker 1: with you. Sign your books or artwork and put a
Speaker 1: note in there thanking people for supporting you. If you've
Speaker 1: got a website about your offerings, tell a little bit
Speaker 1: about yourself and put a photo on there. Let people
Speaker 1: know who you are and that you are making your
Speaker 1: products or selling your services with their happiness in mind.
Speaker 1: If you run a business, you know that every customer counts,
Speaker 1: but your customers don't always realize that making your fingerprints
Speaker 1: visible reminds people that a lot of things don't come
Speaker 1: from some big and personal factory. There's a person on
Speaker 1: the other end, and that person is happy that you
Speaker 1: decided to spend money with the same principle holds if
Speaker 1: you're a leader of let's say a small nonprofit. You
Speaker 1: know that every dollar counts, and sure you'll probably send
Speaker 1: boilerplate gift acknowledgments. But in addition to that, you can
Speaker 1: write personal notes, emails, or texts, and you can pick
Speaker 1: up the phone and call to let donors and other
Speaker 1: supporters know how much their support means. When you let
Speaker 1: supporters know that you really do notice and value their engagement,
Speaker 1: you'll increase their sense of connection to you and to
Speaker 1: the organization. I might forget to donate to a group
Speaker 1: I just get mail from, but when Janice personally has
Speaker 1: reached out to thank me, that is a different matter.
Speaker 1: I realize that people leading small businesses and nonprofits are
Speaker 1: often working very hard doing their basic core work, but
Speaker 1: just a little time spent personalizing interactions with customers and
Speaker 1: supporters can have a big impact future Engagement is, after all,
Speaker 1: an important driver of long term success. If you try
Speaker 1: making your fingerprints visible, I'd love to hear how you
Speaker 1: do it. You can reach me at Laura at Laura
Speaker 1: vandercam dot com. In the meantime, this is Laura. Thanks
Speaker 1: for listening, and here's to making the most of our time.
Speaker 1: Thanks for listening to Before Breakfast. If you've got questions, ideas,
Speaker 1: or feedback, you can reach me at Laura at Laura
Speaker 1: vandercam dot com. Before Breakfast is a production of iHeartMedia.
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