A winning communication strategy
In my August 25 blog, I made reference to a Wall Street Journal article that talked about the potential for marketers to use texting to connect better with their customers. I said I was skeptical about whether I want to be receiving marketing texts from companies.
In contrast to my fuddy-duddyism, Barb Gibson, the IABC Chair, has been enthusiastically embracing new media. Her August 25 blog, “Social Media Makes Me Dance,” is only one example of her excitement about social media.
The debate about which social media work for whom at what time will rage on for quite awhile. And probably it will never be resolved.
But I know one form of communication that is always effective: the hand-written thank you note.
“Who has time to do that?” you ask. Well, Bill Marriott, for one.
How do I know this? The last week that I was in Guatemala, my husband joined me so we could visit Mayan ruins. We used the Guatemala City Marriott as our base and stayed there on three separate nights. We received extraordinary service there. My husband felt it was the best we had ever received in a hotel. When I returned to San Francisco, I wrote to Mr. Marriott to let him know about our exceptional experience in his hotel.
Last week, I received a hand-written thank you note from him. When I wrote the letter to him, I thought it was possible I would get some kind of letter, written by his staff and signed by him. But the fact that the note was in his hand-writing was extraordinarily touching. The special effort he made to communicate with me made extra glad that he had won the 2008 Excel Award.
Bill Marriott has something to teach all of us about communication.