Dirty Harry Callahan got it right with this most famous movie one-liner. In the context it was spoken in The Enforcer it was never intended to improve anyone’s day.  Today, in this blog let’s consider a more positive, fresher version.

Sometimes an e-mail or phone call just won’t work to help a friend through their ‘bad day blues’. Especially, in today’s ruthless, roller-coaster economy where lots of people are suffering serious personal and financial challenges, with many ending in tragedy.

When tragedy hits close to home it’s a quick splash of cold water reality in the face. Last week, we heard about two in our church family. One lost his job and house to foreclosure. The other, unemployed for 8 months with lapsed health insurance, discovered his wife had an advanced-stage cancer.

I prefer to send 3 greeting cards over a 3 week period to let people know we really care and we’re here for them, for the long haul. Why 3? It sends a strong signal their friends are in their hearts and prayers and they are not weathering this crisis alone.

Like many, my busy schedule gets in the way of going to the store to pick out the right card to send. Unlike others, I’ve taught time management training so I feel double guilt when I don’t do what I instruct others to do. Shame on me!

Here’s my near-perfect solution for personal and business card-sending. You may recall, I train sales pros and small biz owners how to painlessly get new customers.

In 2006, I discovered a process for opening doors, minds and hearts. It is the single most effective component for ending cold-calling described by some as the scourge of the selling profession. Since then, I have created dozens of greeting card-based direct mailing campaigns that have achieved double-digit sales-buster results.

In 2007, I’m was almost embarrassed to sit opposite a CEO of a $130 million dollar software company to tell him I was replacing his expensive, slick direct mail marketing campaign, which he paid his former advertising agency, big bucks to create and print, with 3 off-the-shelf personalized greeting cards. 

Almost embarrassed, because I snail-mailed him these 3 off-the-shelf greeting cards with the right message. My reward was our first in-person sales appointment because I gave him a live demo. I proved it worked with my in-your-face Mr. CEO Demo!

 I demonstrated exactly what I had in mind for his sales team to use to get the focused attention of starch-collared chemical engineers who made the final decision to buy his expensive software solution or that of his competitors.

His former advertising agency rep thought it was funny until he was instructed not to come back which gave me a great deal of ‘make my day’ satisfaction!

The right greeting card with a matching right message snail-mailed to the right decision-maker at their business address is all it takes to set the stage for a timely phone follow up call. But ‘right’ is the key. Executed properly, this process completely disarms the coldness associated with communicating effectively with a stranger.  

Here’s why. We are people 24/7 underneath our decision-maker, doctor, lawyer, nurse, starch-collared chemical engineer’s skin. Even on the job, when we become our alter work egos, we still laugh, tear and act human when triggered to do so.

In our cut-throat economy with paper-thin margins, tight budgets and longer work days people crave a quickie break from their daily grind. Relieve this tension, for a few seconds, and they will remember and appreciate your tasteful, funny gesture.

You can do it for less than the cost of a cup of 7/11 coffee and in nearly the same time it takes to pour, mix and cap that cup of hot java. I’m still astonished at how few marketing professionals apply this psychology to their positioning advantage. Their oversight has become my competitive advantage.

Personalized, funny, colorful graphic images on off-the-shelf greeting cards can be used very effectively to trigger these human nature tendencies we all share.

I use Sendoutcards.com, an online greeting card processor, headquartered in Salt Lake City, UT to automate this need. What www.sendoutcards.com has so brilliantly done is made the process of sending personalized greeting cards a time-saving, no-brainer anyone can execute from the convenience of their favorite chair and computer.

In minutes, you can select a card from several categories of a constantly refreshed 7,000 card online inventory. Appropriate-to-the occasion glossy, coated cards with eye-popping colors and/or pictures with serious or humorous wording are available.

A very user-friendly online navigational system prompts you to open the electronic image of the card on your computer screen; type a personalized message; add a first name or title (Mr., Ms, Mrs.) last name; colorize the type font and even add your picture and your facsimile signature. Other options include adding denominational gift cards from The Home Depot, Chili’s, Barnes & Noble and other nationwide retailers.

Names and contact info, including a company name are captured in a database which can be imported from an Excel or other common CSV database files, or manually entered.

Merging the selected card(s) with the database addressees takes minutes and your personalized greeting card mailings are ready to go! The entire process of sending a snail-mailed, personalized greeting card (or as many as you choose) takes minutes, online, instead of the hassle of shopping for a card and manually processing it, the old-fashioned way.

Once you proof your message, you CLICK on Send Card and the named addressee, your return address, the selected card with your message are electronically transmitted to SendOutCards’ computer servers in Salt Lake City, for processing within 24 hours.

Best of all, there are no label-addressed envelopes. It’s a direct-imprint on the outside envelope and it even includes an affixed first class stamp for first-class personalization.

FACT: Whether you choose to imitate my success or not, Americans love to receive greeting cards at work or at home. Putting Human Nature to work in the marketplace can be a very rewarding experience for those who demonstrate tasteful creativity to achieve their corporate marketing goals with this innovative and inexpensive process.

I encourage you to investigate www.sendoutcards.com. Should you wish to wander around their website, enter ID # 8265, to gain online access.

My Power Prospecting® ebook for sale for $40 includes my 4 card campaign with the copy if you wish to duplicate my 83% success response while minimizing your risk. Just CLICK on the Power Prospecting ebook button in the right margin. You can download my FREE minibook before you buy at my www.powerprospectingebook.com website.

So, go ahead and make someone’s day and discover what I learned (and, maybe, profit too) about why Americans love to be carded.

Your options are as varied as your motives and imagination. I have faced this challenge many times before, and again last month, with the same happy outcome.  

While there was no bonus attached to my urgency, my professional pride drove me to exceed my monthly sales quota, as it often does. I was honest with the client when I told her getting started now putting my services to work would benefit her and her sales team, sooner rather than later.

I justified her now-decision by creating a genuine sense of urgency. By reminding her that each day her sales teams hadn’t ‘qualified’ new sales leads was another opportunity for her competition to gain a stronger beachhead in her backyard marketplace. She wouldn’t want this to happen now, would she?………………………………………….and, I repeated this question until I heard her affirmative reply. Remember, the importance of asking the right questions?

This and the importance of listening when decision makers speak was the point of my March 4th blog .

The Urgency Challenge is easier for me to build on as a valid reason to get started, soon. Here’s why. In our economic system, we all compete unless we work for Uncle Sam. We compete for market share and against others who are constantly trying to make our sales stars theirs. My best clients (sales prospects, too) share this characteristic, above all others: they value their sales people.

REALITY: They know that long after the 2009 Recession is nothing more than yesterday’s headlines, their valued training investment in their sales people will continue to pay huge dividends. So, during lean times they have historically re-tooled their sales people, their most important asset. Sharpened their saws, in Dr. Covey’s lingo, so these thoroughbreds are always ready to breakaway from the pack when prosperity returns, as it always has, and is likely to again. These savvy marketing organizations invest for the long haul.

Your Homework Assignment: Here’s your challenge. Identify customers who have not just survived, but thrived in hard times whether they are new customers or been with you for some time. Study their values and yours to establish compatibility. For example, my clients value their sales people. I train sales people to become more valuable sales assets; thus, our shared mission. Now, relate your Urgency Challenge to their mission. It sounds easy doesn’t it? It is. It’s just a function of staying in touch!  I’d like to share your successes, so, please drop me a line at: eurekaman43@hotmail.com.