Dear friends,

As I sit down to write to you, our valued customers, I’m taking note of the odd calm that’s been hanging over the ‘ville for the past few days. One that we haven’t felt in months. Well, practically since the beginning of 2012.

We had big plans for this year and some pretty lofty goals as well. As the final days are upon us (I’m not talking in a Mayan Calendar kind of way) we’re now in a place to look back on what we achieved.

It was a heck of a lot, actually. And, truly, we did it all for you.

We know that as the workplace changes and as the measures of success are continually redrawn, it can be challenging to find new ways to engage and motivate your team. The fresh products and programs we’ve been developing over the last year address those needs in surprising and innovative ways. And in just a few days, we’ll be unveiling them all to you in our new catalog and on Baudville.com.

In the mean time, I’ll be reflecting on what makes us, at Baudville, successful. And the answer once again is: YOU.

I am deeply thankful to you for shopping with us, for talking with us, for laughing with us, and for sharing your challenges with us. You make us stronger, and, in turn, our goal is always to help you and your business be stronger.

With appreciation, I wish you a wonderful holiday season, happy times with family, friends, and coworkers, and a prosperous new year!

Cheers!

Brad

Here’s a sneak peek at what you’ll see:

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Brad Darooge is President and CEO of Baudville and a positive mojo aficionado. He brings the positive mojo to work every day along with his bike. In addition to leading Baudville, Brad is also an amateur triathlete.

I talk a lot about handwritten thank you notes on the Recognition at Work blog, and we have many articles on the topic in our Recognition Resource Center. When you talk and write about something so much, it can be easy to forget about the magnitude of its impact. In most of my articles, I instruct readers to write a thank you note to an employee or co-worker. Baudville is the place for daily recognition after all!

Recently, I was reminded that a thank you note can be a powerful tool for customer retention, too. Within the past week, I learned of two unique instances of organizations using the thank you to leave a positive impression on a customer.

First, I had the privilege of speaking at the Greater Ann Arbor Society for Human Resource Management  chapter last week at their monthly luncheon with a friend from Credential Check. During the presentation, my co-presenter shared that all of his sale representatives do A4s after sales visits. (If you work in an office, you’re probably familiar with the A4 paper size, approximately 8.5” x 11”.) Every sales representative is required to write an A4 thank you note after a customer visit before they even drive out of the parking lot! Sales reps have stationery and stamps in their car, so the letter gets mailed immediately, and the customer gets wowed.

Also last week, my dad had an outpatient procedure at a local hospital. Thankfully, everything went well and my parents had all good things to say about their experience. The icing on the cake, however, was when they received a thank you card in the mail from one of his nurses. The card was simple, it said thank you for letting us care for you, and was personally signed by the nurse. The simple gesture of a thank you note made an impact on my parents who told the whole family about it over the weekend.

Have you ever received a thank you note from a company who just wanted to recognize your business? How did it make you feel about the company?

Now imagine how your customers would feel if you sent them a thank you note after a large order, or included a personal note in their shipping box. How would your business grow? Think about the referrals and word of mouth marketing you’d receive!

This week, give a handwritten thank you note a try! Grab your own A4, stationery, or mini note cards (my personal favorite), and take a few moments to write a sincere thank you. I guarantee your card will have a lasting impact!

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Cori is Baudville's in-house Recognitionista (she's officially a Certified Recognition Professional, too)  and a member of the Millennial generation. Get her employee recognition tips and special discounts by liking Baudville on Facebook.