“May I have the spelling of your name” is a question that I frequently ask people and often–'how do you pronounce your name?"
Often times I will receive strange looks—and my thought is that the other person is thinking, “Is she kidding? The spelling of my name is so obvious!’ And so is the pronunciation….(don't be so sure)
Countless times I have been very proud that I always ask because I am often surprised.
Scala& Associates LLC
Development Consulting for Nonprofits,
I noticed the spelling of his name from his email and commented on it. As we were talking a story came up about how important the correct spelling of anyone’s name is. I was so happy speaking to Scot because he had called after hearing me speak at The Association For Fund raising Professionals in 2007 in Dallas and that was clearly a wonderful reconnection. It also gave me the opportunity to reach back to my AFP client to say "thank you". Scot never would have reached out if she had not hired me for the conference.
Several lessons for me here:
*Think–when was the last time you received a letter or thank you note and your name on the envelope and greeting had a misspelling. We remember these things and again–it is all in the detail.
*Take the time to ask—often you may be very surprised and my philosophy is better to ask and be right then not to ask and certainly be wrong!
*This morning, I had the opportunity to talk with another potential client and although we spell our first names exactly the same way, she pronounces her name totally differently. Again–an "Aha" moment.
*Also–reach back to your first connection on how you met a new prospect or client. In this case for me in the last two days, it was from two different industry organizations–Non Profit and Health care. I am writing both of my clients a "thank you" note –without them, I never would have received these two calls–learned some new lessons and perhaps receive a couple of more assignments.
Lessons learned!