Send a thank you note after a one-on-one meeting
People often ask me how I take my networking to a deeper level. I think it’s important to recognize how you want to develop your personal brand while you’re networking. If you’re unclear about your personal brand, you probably shouldn’t be networking.
For me, I’m known for asking tough questions which leads people to be very reflective and make changes in their careers. As you can imagine, these questions lead to conversations that allow me and my clients to develop deep personal connections. After all, in the consulting and coaching I do, it’s about people’s careers and having job satisfaction, which IS very personal to my clients.
Because my work leads to deep personal connections with people, it’s common for me to send a hand written thank you note after meeting people for a meal or a one-on-one meeting. That personal touch is part of my personal brand, so I consistently make an effort to send thank you cards. Connecting through snail mail really helps me to feel like I’m professionally doing my best to keep in touch with contacts in a personal way.
For me, sending notes works. It has worked for decades. But, that might not be true to you and your personal brand.
If connecting with people after one-on-one meetings is important to you, then I recommend that you get custom thank you notes that reflect your brand. Ideally, the logo on your business card will match your thank you notes. It’s all about consistency when it comes to building your reputation and personal brand. Sure, you could purchase thank you notes at a local store too. Either way, use the thank you cards. It does you no good to have note cards on hand and not send them.
If you’re going to purchase custom note cards, here are a few suggestions to help you design cards that reflect your personal brand:
- What colors look best on you. Use those colors in your design.
- Look for a font that reflects your brand.
- Use a logo, or image, that says something about you without having to actually tell people what you want them to think.
- Look for ways to match your business card to the note card so that there is consistency.
Give it a try for yourself and see how much more you’re connected with your network after sending thank you notes.
How have hand written note cards impacted your relationships with people in your network?