Don’t ask how, but earlier today I came across a post on letter writing at ArtofManliness.com. (Let it be…) You must understand, I’ve been surrounded by technology and electronic communication for most of my adult life. I am very connected. The fact is, I feel I’m too connected. But not for real.
Like any good businessman, I’m always on the lookout for process efficiency. For years, I’ve investigated services that facilitate, or even automate, communication. As a Realtor, the most important thing I do is communicate and interact with my friends, clients, and prospects. Not surprisingly, there are legions of salespeople and vendors pitching me about how their product will save me from the arduous task of personally attending to all those that I ought to be routinely engaging with.
The problem is, these products and techniques promote the worst kind of mediocrity; that which attempts to commoditize my treasured relationships and turn them into mere contacts. To my mind, squandering the goodwill of one’s social network by applying a “Dear {FirstName},” drip campaign is not only lame, its disrespectful. However, we agents are trained to do it because, unfortunately, it works. And because anyone can do it.
Well, I’ve never been particularly attracted to work that anyone can do and I don’t pitch my friends. The names in my address book represent my most prized relationships and I’ll much sooner neglect them than abuse them. Nevertheless, I work hard to stay connected with these people, though I have plenty of room for improvement. In fact, I’d love to meet with each one of them frequently and stay caught up with all that’s happening in their lives, but I just don’t have the time to do it. Consequently, I do need to be systematic in my efforts to remain in touch and to make sure that I at least check in with everyone periodically. And the post I referred to earlier reminded me that even if I don’t have the luxury of meeting face-to-face with my friends as often as I’d like…
…sending a letter is the next best thing to showing up personally at someone’s door. Ink from your pen touches the stationary, your fingers touch the paper, your saliva seals the envelope. Something tangible from your world travels through machines and hands, and deposits itself in another’s mailbox. Your letter is then carried inside as an invited guest. The paper that was sitting on your desk, now sits on another’s. The recipient handles the paper that you handled. Letters create a connection that modern, impersonal forms of communication will never approach.
Now, where is that fountain pen?
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