Custom-designed or off-the-shelf, a less ornate card with a good message works best.
RCM Holiday cards, Birthday cards and greeting cards can be off-the-shelf or you can custom design cards featuring your product, your business, your staff, etc. Either type of card will work if it’s prepared following the principles and tenets of RCM. As for preprinted cards, less ornate, less expensive cards work best. They won’t overshadow your message nor make you appear needlessly ostentatious. (Of note, all of the greeting card facsimiles on this website were client-inspired, designed and produced by Archer-Profit Associates, relationship centered marketing specialists.)
Build your business stationery into a sales tool.
As for your letters and notes, special consideration should be given to their design. Your stationery should vary between #10 and Monarch dimensions, and when it is planned, its size should vary from contact to contact. Try not to repeatedly deliver the same size of mailing piece. You may already have business stationery, but if it doesn’t include anything other than contact information, use it as a starting point to add any product/service illustrations, awards, logos, etc. that you can comfortably place on the letterhead and envelopes without intruding into your “writing” space. This is a subtle yet effective way to promote your products, services and honors.
RCM demands postal mailing for its exclusivity, impact and effectiveness.
RCM delivery is exclusively for Postal Service mailing. Why? For several reasons, beginning with the intrusiveness of postal mail’s alternatives. The credibility of both the telephone and e-mail have suffered because of overuse by the countless types of marketing capitalizing on their low cost to bombard their recipients with unwanted advertising. And, their effectiveness will continue to erode as more businesses use them to market solely because of their cost. (I.e., Thinking about it, is there ever a time you want an unsolicited call or email from a salesperson, even if you know them?) While 1st class postage costs more to deliver your message, its advantages are well worth it. Its increasing cost alone makes it the premium message delivery vehicle and that cost has also decimated “junk” mailings, clearing the way for your message in a much less cluttered medium.
Postal mail substantiates sincerity and forethought and delivers more staying power.
A postage-mailed RCM contact substantiates sincerity. It is a testament to the time, effort and thought you believe your customer/prospect is worth to you. It delivers a touchable, easy-to-keep-and-show-others hard copy and it is considerably more sustained because it can’t be ended with a hang-up or the push of a delete button. While telephones and email are essential for time-critical business communication and gathering information, your RCM message should be delivered, read and reflected upon in a more relaxed, comfortable environment. Ideally, that would be your RCM recipient’s home. That’s the perfect place for your message of friendship and admiration to be contemplated.
