by Gil Baumgarten
I am an introvert and have never been a hard prospector. Despite this, I built a billion-dollar solo advisory practice in 10 years, although I did have a running start as a decent broker. Other advisors ask me about my secret weapons, and here’s one.
Along with learning the importance of saying “yes ma’am” and “no sir,” my southern upbringing taught me the value of a handwritten note. This art form has succumbed to the overpowering convenience of email. But the two are not interchangeable. Mastering the handwritten note is a unique weapon of the prodigious user.
These notes create a positive lasting impression for several reasons. They are unique. In a world where we all struggle to stand out due to technology’s leveling quality, notes easily make you memorable because no one sends them anymore. It’s a powerful medium for expressing affirmation. When you comment on the cool tie the recipient was wearing or the funny joke they told, people will read the compliment over and over again to hear it in their minds as a source of personal affirmation. If the comment is genuine and not flattery, it’s hard to go wrong. Subconsciously, people will want another note, so they are more apt to repeat the behavior because of your encouragement. This is critical for the connectors you know.
I use cards most often to say thanks for a referral or introduction. I track my list of prior recipients on the Notes app on my phone. This provides me a record since I lose track otherwise. It also helps make sure I don’t overdo it on any one person and allow the love to be spread more evenly.
I also queue up recipients by keeping notes on my phone of things I appreciate that others have provided. It could be picking up the tab for dinner or inviting me to go skeet shooting. I recently sent a thank you note to a client for the offer of letting me use his plane. I also sent a note to a client’s six-year-old daughter thanking her for the crayon painting she made for me while I was at her home visiting her parents.
Don’t be shy about your writing style or cryptic handwriting. That will all be overshadowed by the blinding graciousness. Use a quality pen, so blobs don’t blemish. Type out what you want to say first. This cuts down the rejects and restarts on expensive cards. It seems like a futile extra step, but it’s a huge time saver in the end.
I once spent hundreds on Crane fine linen cards. I don’t do that anymore. I still use premium card stock but with my company logo embossed in color and my name and title in the upper right corner. These still feel substantial and expensive but are about half the cost of good linen stationery, even less in bulk. I also ordered a handheld press to emboss my own envelope rear flaps with my return address.
The entire process takes time, but that’s the whole point. Nothing says “you’re special” like the time you spent writing. It is also far less trouble than a seminar and surely less painful than cold calling.
And if you run across my clients in the marketplace, please don’t send them a note!
Reprinted by permission of the author. First published on April 15, 2021 by Advisor Perspectives.
Gil Baumgarten, president of Segment Wealth Management, is a 36-year veteran of the investment industry. In 2010, Gil jumped off the Wall Street brokerage train to start Segment, a fiduciary firm where the interests of the client and the firm could align. He is a multi-year recipient of the Top 1,200 Financial Advisors in America distinction by Barron’s and is a newly published author, with his first book launching in May titled, FOOLISH: How Investors Get Worked Up and Worked Over by the System.