In today’s world of Tweets, IMs, and curt, cryptic emails handwritten notes and letters are a throwback. In his blog, Write a Letter to a Whale, Andrew Davis shares how he was able to get a meeting with Warren Buffet by sending him 42 handwritten letters every Monday about saving the newspaper industry. Before these letters, Davis was a total stranger to Warren Buffet.
In this blog I am not talking about getting Warren Buffet or another such “whale” to respond to you with handwritten notes, but, I am, about the lost art of writing a personal, handwritten note where it matters how you communicate to the other person the sincerity of your message and how it makes them feel. Here, the medium does become the message!
So, why don’t we use this simple, slow, primitive yet very personalized mode of communicating? Here is my take on the lost art of hand-written notes or letters:
- We don’t think that anyone does this sort of writing anymore and we may come across as old fashioned, even out of date!
- Your handwriting sucks
- It takes too long to get the message in the recipient’s hands, when instantaneous means are available to communicate
- There is no way to spell-check your text and hide your obvious sloppiness
- The other person may be obliged to respond in kind, imposing on their goodwill
I could go on and on, but the fact is that most people do respond differently to a hand-written note, especially in today’s ethos. I can give my own example: Many of my clients refer me to their friends to use my services. For each referral I acknowledge their kindness with in an email message. But, when someone does this time and again I make it a point of writing them a hand-written Thank-you note and Mail it to their home address.
This simple act of sending a thank-you message in a different way gets them to respond back to me in ways that does not happen with thank-you emails. Also, whenever, I get hand-written notes and cards from my clients acknowledging my help to them I keep them in an orderly pile, or in a box to visit them just to get myself pumped up when I need to. You’ll also see some of these cards and notes scattered in a display throughout my office. This does not happen with IMs or emails. They get lost in the cataract of everyday messages that pile up by the thousands!
Jack Welch, GE’s legendary CEO was known to send hand-written notes to his employees, who had gone out of their way to do something to make GE look good. NBC’s Matt Lauer of Today Show received many such notes and cards from Jack Welch, all hand-written when NBC was in GE’s fold. Matt pronounced in one of the interviews that these were some of his most cherished possessions! What made these notes especially valuable was their specific focus. Jack Welch did not just say, “Great job, Matt, keep up the good work.” Instead, he was specific and timely about what he had to say. His typical note to Matt would say, “Matt, great job with your interview with Henry Kissinger last night. Your pointed question on whether we should interfere in Saudi Arabia’s internal policies was especially well handled! I also liked how you followed-up on his response. Great job, I am proud of you and the work you do for us!” Being specific shows that you care to show your appreciation on what mattered to you most.
So, if you are still wondering about this mode of sending a personal message to someone that matters here is my counter to each of the five items I have “objected” to above in the same order:
- Yes, handwritten notes are quaint and that is why they make an impression on the person receiving it!
- Any handwriting is better than a laser-printed text. It shows that you care. If your penmanship is world class, all the more reason you should do this to show-off!
- Yes, it does take long to reach the destination, but remember, the recipient is not sitting there waiting for your message to arrive. It is a total surprise to them when it does, and it puts a smile on their face.
- You can spell-check your draft by keyboarding it on your computer and then transcribing it on your note you plan to write.
- Yes, the other person will be pleasantly surprised and they may return the favor by sending back their own hand-written note.
What I am suggesting here is not something that will change your life in some major way, but resorting to something unusual in today’s zeitgeist has its own impact. Just try it!
Good luck!