Recently I was introduced to a book called “The Happiness Project” by Gretchen Rubin. I believe we all want to be happy and work to attain those things that we believe will make us happy. Sadly, those things aren’t always the source of happiness that we want them to be!

Rubin believes that an important part of working towards being happier is to be grateful, and to put a voice to that gratitude, either in a gratitude journal or by simply reflecting often on what there is in life to be grateful for. It’s so easy to focus on the things that are not going well and on mistakes and regrets of the past. Even though much of this is human nature, she realized that there was so much in her life to be grateful for. If she thought about it and put it into words, it stuck with her for much longer than just a moment. It colored how she felt for some time afterwards.

This really resonated with me. Even though I have so much to be grateful for, I rarely make a conscious effort to vocalize it. But since we started ThankYouPro, I have written more thank you notes than in my entire life. Clearly, that started because it’s now our business, but it is also because the app makes it fun and easy. The notes are one way that I have given voice to my gratitude. The more notes I write, the more occasions I find to say thank you. Pretty much every day, there is some kindness someone has done for me, or some event in which I was included that gave me joy, or just for time spent together on a project. I find myself consciously looking for opportunities to say thank you.

The really interesting thing is that I am not looking for or expecting feedback from the recipients. It’s enough for me to do it. I’m sure there is some point of overdoing it, but for now I am in agreement with Rubin. Giving voice to my gratitude is resulting in a significant bump in happiness.

It costs 5 times as much to get a new customer as to retain a current customer.

It’s very sad that many companies put much more effort into gaining new customers than keeping the ones they already gained. The cost involved is amazing. There is tremendous value in having an active customer retention program that keeps your current customers buying from you rather than drifting away to a competitor.

We recently saw a white paper by customer loyalty guru Jill Griffin. She cites a Rockefeller Foundation study on the reasons customers become “lost” customers:

Complaints were not handled 14%
The competition 9%
Relocation 9%
No special reason 68%

No special reason means benign neglect.

So how do we deal with “benign neglect”? While there are many ways, it can be as simple as reaching out to say “thank you” for your loyalty. A thank you card in the mail says that you appreciate their business and want to stay connected. It takes less than a minute with ThankYouPro to avoid the 68% benign neglect syndrome and keep that customer engaged with you.

We are so excited to find that such a variety of people are using our product. We have users from corporations, auto sales, insurance, in-home care, landscapers, caterers, and independent consultants. And we have had a request for new card designs and we definitely plan to offer many new designs. So we’re asking for your help in selecting the new designs. Please send us ideas and or designs for our new card covers – we need your help!

We have just initiated a conversation about the value of paper notes vs email thank you notes on Linkedin. The great majority says that they do send thank you followups for a variety of reasons and that handwritten notes make a much more positive impact. We LOVE it!

However, there is a caveat which is the term “handwritten”. For some, it is essential that we put pen to paper. The concept is that handwriting simply denotes that we care enough to make the effort. For many, it is the thoughtfulness that counts, whether handwritten or not. For still others, the state of their penmanship makes handwriting a huge obstacle!

ThankYouPro is taking advantage of the smartphone technology to do what we believe is the best of both worlds – convenience, speed and thoughtfulness. We have incorporated a variety of handwritten fonts and the ability to actually write a signature on the phone. Those features create a very personal experience for the recipient. Yet it has the convenience of a mobile app – no stamps or cards to buy and next business day turnaround.

Like a handwritten message, the expression of gratitude must be created and keyed in by the sender. It just happens faster – much, much faster. And the recipient still receives a paper note in the mail which we know has a significantly more positive impact than the very fleeting email crowded in with 50 (100, 200) other emails.

The very best part of using smartphones for thank you notes? They get done!

We would love to hear your opinion – please comment!

Create and Mail Professional Thank You Notes From your iPhone or iPad with ThankYouPro

January 24, 2012  — Richmond, VA – Successful professionals know the impact that a personal thank you card can make, even in today’s technology-driven world. ThankYouPro™ uses the technology in your hand to create customized, printed cards from your iPhone® or iPad®, and is now available for free in the AppStore?

In less than a minute, you can thank someone for their business, network referral, or even a gift. Choose from over 20 professional designs, pick fonts and colors, add your logo, and sign your name directly on your iPhone or iPad. ThankYouPro will  take care of the printing and First Class mailing. iPhone 4s customers can even use Siri™ to dictate their note.

ThankYouPro significantly reduces the hassle factor of buying stamps, shopping for cards, and getting them to a mailbox.

“Apple sold over 17 million iPhones and over 11 million iPads in the fourth quarter of 2011 alone; that combined with the growing trend toward user-customized cards versus traditional greeting cards, proved that we were on the right track with ThankYouPro,” stated John Testement, founder and CEO of ThankYouPro. Our early users in the real estate, insurance and professional service industries have told us that saving them significant time on what they consider to be critical high-touch professional communication.”