Butchart Gardens is fifty-five acres of stunning floral show gardens located near Victoria, British Columbia. When the limestone was exhausted in the quarry in the early 1900’s Jeannie Butchart conceived an unprecedented plan for refurbishing the bleak pit created from her husbands cement plant. Today the gardens are a National Historic Site of Canada that attracts a million people a year.
They also serve afternoon tea year round. A traditional repast, made popular in England hundreds of years ago. For those unfamiliar with afternoon tea it includes warm traditional delicacies, savoury tea sandwiches, house-made sweets, and of course tea.
Butchart Gardens has a special promotion where they invite anyone having an 80th birthday to bring a friend and enjoy free admission to the park and complimentary afternoon tea. A great marketing idea that is terribly popular with the graying population in Victoria.
My Mom turns 80 this month so she, her sister and a friend headed off this past week for afternoon tea. She reports it was an incredible experience and the staff treated her like a Queen. Guess what – they turned out three new ambassadors for Butchart Gardens.
Talking with my Mom she said she had written a thank you note to the restaurant staff to which I replied, “that’s great I know they will really appreciate that.” She went on to observe how thank you notes don’t seem to be used much any more.
Mom told me she recently had an antique doll repaired and the woman who did the work refused any payment as she said the doll was so beautiful and it was a minor repair. My Mom wrote her a nice thank you note. The doll repair woman called her and told her in the many years she has been repairing dolls that she had never received a thank you note and was totally elated.
It got me thinking of the last thank you note I mailed off to someone and I confess it was probably too long ago. These stationary items are affordable, easy to obtain, and only take a few minutes to pen a short message stuff it in an envelope, put a stamp on it and drop it in a mail box … so why don’t we use them? In an increasingly digital, impersonal and fast paced world perhaps it is time to stand out from the crowd and find excuses to send your vendors, clients, and prospects a thank you note.
Thank you for your order, thank you for your time the other day, thank you for the referral you gave me, thank you for your continued business or simply thank you for being you.
Say it in ink, put a stamp on it and use snail mail to create an impression.
Clayton Shold
Salesopedia
