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Handwritten thank you notes increase sales

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Re: Handwritten thank you notes increase sales

#121

Post by iambateman »

gregsadetsky wrote: post #102
wallawe wrote: post #94

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I replied to parent, but we built the company that shows up #3 for that query (at least on my browser) - handwrite.io. I felt that there would be a massive audience for the API so worked on building that out in the early stages while my cofounder built the hardware. It's a super costly process, requires a lot of human touchpoints even when you've automated a lot of the machinery (e.g. sealing and stamping cards). The…

Thanks a lot for sharing, really interesting. I edited my comment so you may not have seen my additional question: why build out hardware vs. outsource the printing / mailing? i.e. with enough randomness in the font/text/letter generation, was it still obvious to tell what was “handwritten” by a plotter vs printed? And re: margins, you could have raised prices but that would have made you not competitive?

It is possible for a plotter using a real pen to make a card which is indistinguishable from a truly handwritten card.

People are rightfully squeamish about sending out cards which “look” handwritten but aren’t. Imagine a customer realizes that you are faking it…the consequences to reputation could be substantial.

That said, I personally find printed cards using handwritten-style font to be insulting, so that was a no-go for us.

We considered using a third party fulfillment service and essentially charging a fee on top of that, but the returns would be microscopic for the effort.

Re: Handwritten thank you notes increase sales

#122

Post by hirundo »

hk1337 wrote: post #83
waselighis wrote: post #34

Fucking marketers just want to destroy all sincerity in the world.

Or you could take it as, authentic sincerity increases sales.

> authentic sincerity increases sales

If you can fake that you've got it made.

https://quoteinvestigator.com/2011/12/05/fake-honesty/

Re: Handwritten thank you notes increase sales

#123

Post by wallawe »

gregsadetsky wrote: post #102
wallawe wrote: post #94

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I replied to parent, but we built the company that shows up #3 for that query (at least on my browser) - handwrite.io. I felt that there would be a massive audience for the API so worked on building that out in the early stages while my cofounder built the hardware. It's a super costly process, requires a lot of human touchpoints even when you've automated a lot of the machinery (e.g. sealing and stamping cards). The…

Thanks a lot for sharing, really interesting. I edited my comment so you may not have seen my additional question: why build out hardware vs. outsource the printing / mailing? i.e. with enough randomness in the font/text/letter generation, was it still obvious to tell what was “handwritten” by a plotter vs printed? And re: margins, you could have raised prices but that would have made you not competitive?

> why build out hardware vs. outsource the printing / mailing?

we wanted the handwriting to feel as real as possible. to that end, my cofounder wrote an algo that varied each character slightly, the robots held real pens, etc. We couldn't find anyone to outsource the fulfillment to that matched this level of authenticity. Some competitors used lob.com and simply print an image of handwriting which actually can work pretty well, but is definitely recognizable if you look closely.

> re: margins, you could have raised prices but that would have made you not competitive?

This was a big point of contention between me and my cofounder. We raise them towards the end some but not enough. After selling, the company that bought us raised them substantially and are doing very well from what I understand. We should have done this early on, but focused too much on winning the deal which is what burnt us out in the end (too much business too quick, lots of sleepless nights).

Re: Handwritten thank you notes increase sales

#124

Post by lotsofpulp »

deltarholamda wrote: post #70
waselighis wrote: post #34

Fucking marketers just want to destroy all sincerity in the world.

Well, yes, but... take away from this something less grim. It's something a friend who was in marketing used to say to me all of the time: "good customer service is the best marketing, and it's often very nearly free." Chick-fil-a figured this out years ago. Their employees are required to be nice and kind, and they can get fired for having a crappy attitude. This sounds awful, Stepford-wifeish, but in reality it imp…

Sending out a “hand” written thank you letter long after a transaction is completed and real time customer service at the time of transaction are not comparable actions of customer service.

Re: Handwritten thank you notes increase sales

#125

Post by linspace »

boringg wrote: post #58
waselighis wrote: post #34

Fucking marketers just want to destroy all sincerity in the world.

I had the same response. It should really read - sincere sales increase sales - thats the model. Whatever is considered to be the next sincere thing will be emulated by marketing and ruined.

Sincerity under payment has to be taken for what it is. I expect and appreciate to be treated nicely when going to a restaurant but I'm under no illusion that it's because I'm going to pay for it, otherwise I doubt all that people would be cooking, serving and cleaning afterwards with a smile in their face while I sit there saying thank you.

Re: Handwritten thank you notes increase sales

#126

Post by Silverback_VII »

bheadmaster wrote: post #88
Silverback_VII wrote: post #48

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Another interpretation would be that they are just uncovering the fact that behind many nice and kind behaviours lie some very selfish interests. In every human interaction you can perceive the battle over power, social status and personal interests. It's just the way it is. Some people can see it, others not or just don't want to.

> In every human interaction you can perceive the battle over power, social status and personal interests. I agree with this in general - but some interactions really are more about mutual feeling-good, than about power struggles. Of course, those interactions are necessarily with people who are close to us. I think the better way to put this would be: In every interaction *with strangers* you can perceive the battle…

Not sure if your statement is true even if I can see some relationships to be mutually beneficial. However, the term frenenemy exists for a reason. I think some part of oneself is always calculating one's own value and power in relation to others. Some of these mechanics only become apparent if there is a big change in a relationship like one of your friend or family member becoming very successful for example.

Re: Handwritten thank you notes increase sales

#127

Post by flutas »

deltarholamda wrote: post #70
waselighis wrote: post #34

Fucking marketers just want to destroy all sincerity in the world.

Well, yes, but... take away from this something less grim. It's something a friend who was in marketing used to say to me all of the time: "good customer service is the best marketing, and it's often very nearly free." Chick-fil-a figured this out years ago. Their employees are required to be nice and kind, and they can get fired for having a crappy attitude. This sounds awful, Stepford-wifeish, but in reality it imp…

> (Raising Cane's does this as well, and their chicken is better.)

Hard disagree.

I've never had chicken that is rubbery/contains a tendon from CFA, it's basically guaranteed to happen every time I try Cane's, to the point where I've basically stopped eating there.

It's a sign to me that they only go "skin deep" on quality, because it's not "inedible" but while you're eating the last thing I want is a bite of it to be rubbery and fall apart in my hand because of it.

Re: Handwritten thank you notes increase sales

#128

Post by ignaloidas »

lotsofpulp wrote: post #124
deltarholamda wrote: post #70

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well, yes, but... take away from this something less grim. It's something a friend who was in marketing used to say to me all of the time: "good customer service is the best marketing, and it's often very nearly free." Chick-fil-a figured this out years ago. Their employees are required to be nice and kind, and they can get fired for having a crappy attitude. This sounds awful, Stepford-wifeish, but in reality it imp…

Sending out a “hand” written thank you letter long after a transaction is completed and real time customer service at the time of transaction are not comparable actions of customer service.

My dad has been ordering green tea from a particular seller for maybe 10 years now, in part because they include a lovely little handwritten note for each order. It is absolutely comparable.

Re: Handwritten thank you notes increase sales

#129

Post by wallawe »

iambateman wrote: post #121
gregsadetsky wrote: post #102

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Thanks a lot for sharing, really interesting. I edited my comment so you may not have seen my additional question: why build out hardware vs. outsource the printing / mailing? i.e. with enough randomness in the font/text/letter generation, was it still obvious to tell what was “handwritten” by a plotter vs printed? And re: margins, you could have raised prices but that would have made you not competitive?

It is possible for a plotter using a real pen to make a card which is indistinguishable from a truly handwritten card. People are rightfully squeamish about sending out cards which “look” handwritten but aren’t. Imagine a customer realizes that you are faking it…the consequences to reputation could be substantial. That said, I personally find printed cards using handwritten-style font to be insulting, so that was a n…

it depends on who you ask and how hard they look, but in my experience yes. i did numerous non-scientific experiments of just showing people a card and asking them if they thought it was handwritten or done by a robot. sometimes i would show them an actual handwritten card, sometimes the robotic one and for ours at least, they had a tough time telling them apart.

edit: i can't speak to the technology the company uses now, i believe they switched away from our tech to something more scalable so it's probably not as good now.

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