Do you send letters or thank you notes to your customers?

**YoungChris** · 06-01-2010 09:55 AM

Do you send letters or thank you notes to your customers?

Thanks,

Christopher
Writlet
Writlet

**ciaossu** · 06-01-2010 12:57 PM

Yes. In my last startup, it was a requirement that every sales employee spend around 1-2 hour at the start of their day writing personalized hand-written thank you letters to our customers for being a new customer. Our sales process requires employees to reach out to new customers via phone or email so each letter was catered to the individual via the conversations that were held. We sent out hundreds of letters a week.

**YoungChris** · 06-01-2010 03:18 PM

Thanks for your response. My company I just launched is under the Startups category, you should check it out.

**Rock Star** · 06-02-2010 05:06 AM

it is a very good technique for keeping your costumers with you & maintaining his/her loyalty ...!!!

**Will** · 06-02-2010 07:26 AM

Hi
I think you should base your pricing on the word count of the letter...
Most hand written letters are just short and quick thank yous etc, people don't write anything long in them unless it is to a personal friend. If a business wrote a long hand written letter to me I would wonder if they should spend more time doing business.

For $4, most would rather just do a quick thank you for signing up note themselves, sorry to say. Good concept, but you need a variety in pricing or it is far too expencive, as they have to write the typed letter anyway.

**GoodbyeToronto** · 06-02-2010 08:28 AM

I usually go with thank you notes for regular customers and letters for larger deals. Also, letters if the relationship is more personal.

**YoungChris** · 06-02-2010 10:00 AM

Yes, that is something I am considering. The original concept was to target consumers and businesses, however, consumers could end up writing an 8 page letter for $4. The likelihood is slim, but possible. I am considering setting a price for 0-500 words. 501-1000 words etc.

The issue is this:

Stamp + envelope + paper is generally costing $1.00
Paypal is $0.30 per transaction

So in this case how would you do this where businesses and consumers can both embrace this? Is $2.00 a reasonable price and than $0.50 - $1.00 more per 500 word increment?

Or should I just offer monthly plans for X amount you can send X letters. Lets say its for $40.00 you can send 20 letters. In this case cost is roughly $26.

In your opinion what is the best route?

**ciaossu** · 06-02-2010 05:14 PM

Originally Posted by YoungChris

The issue is this:

Stamp + envelope + paper is generally costing $1.00
Paypal is $0.30 per transaction

Erm... I don't know where you're buying your paper and envelope but seems like you're getting ripped off. That's super expensive. Stamps in the US is $0.44 and you can load up on Forever Stamps. Envelop and Paper if you buy from the right source could cost you less than a penny to maybe 2 cents altogether. These 3 things should NOT exceed $0.50 combined.

**YoungChris** · 06-02-2010 05:30 PM

So let me ask you, how would you price this for consumers and businesses and to be fair on both sides while still making a profit, and taking into account freelance letter writers? Should their be a character limit?

I am trying to cater to businesses and individuals so please tell me your thoughts on the best way to go about this...What WOULD you like to see?

**ciaossu** · 06-02-2010 08:06 PM

As I've stated, I like the idea but it's a difficult thing to tackle. From a business perspective of something that does this, if my cost outweighs hiring employees and cost of material, I would rather do it in house. For a business like mine, sending hundreds of letters a week, even at $1 a letter, I would burn hundreds of dollars. I can tell you that I can definitely save more by hiring than by outsourcing this portion, if the cost is $4/letter for sure. I'm not here trying to criticize your business but just because you got a good idea doesn't mean your business model works. A good example was Google started their Adwords program as a CPM but have sinced changed to CPC completely. eBay's partner network use to do percentage of sale but have since changed completely to CPC as well.

I have no idea to be honest on what would make sense in business practice and that is something you need to figure out. I am merely giving you my opinion and advice base on a business that actually does do this. Take it however you will, but I'm sure you have to agree that at some point, if the cost outweigh the benefits that a business can do themselves for much lower, no business in their right mind would pay 10x to 100x more than they should. I fully understand outsourcing parts of a business that you aren't well versed in or if it means resources would cost you more to do yourself. But in this business, that simply isn't the case. I'm not trying to deter you from trying, as I said previously in the other post I believe you can make money. But the question you should be asking is, is this the optimal way for my business to grow.