Staying In Touch
In December of 2005, I visited the wonderful country of
Kenya. Truly life changing in so many ways as anyone who visits there will tell
you. When we visited one of the tribes, I had the honor of
talking with the Chief of the Village, William as he gave us a tour. He was
inspiring and a fantastic spokesperson for his community.
Seeing how these wonderful people live and their
passion and unity for each other made me and everyone in my group so very
appreciative of what we have.
Remember there is no electricity anywhere and I tried to
experience what everyday life is like as I entered one of the huts.
You can imagine my surprise when Chief William gave me his business
card and asked for mine- and said he would email me! Yes– he runs daily into
the next village- a mere 20 mile run each way to buy beads for the ladies to create
their beautiful wares ( see our picture) and to do his Emailing!
He asked me to send him one of my books and he also admired
a watch I was wearing which was my Oprah watch from Chico's that I travel with.I promised to send him one.
When I returned home, he did in fact send me an email that
was waiting in my inbox and to remind to send the book and the watch 🙂 and then three weeks later, he sent me a thank you note and said that the book was proudly
displayed in the Main hut. I was honored. He was also showing off the watch!
Years have passed and just today, I received an email from
him with a note about a new project they are doing and wanted to know if I
remember him!!
I just wrote back and said, William, how could I ever forget
you!You are the master and you live what true relationship building
is all about.
Here is what I learned from Chief William about Sales and Communication:
*Be proactive- He emailed me to see that I returned home
safely and thanked me for visiting his village
*Be resourceful- He runs back and forth 40 miles daily to
use a computer and email ( no wonder they always win the Marathon)
*Ask for what you want- He wanted to make sure that I
sent the book and the watch- and he asked for both
*Say Thank you– He wrote me a thank you as soon as he
received the gifts
*Stay in Touch- Yes, it has been quite a few years,however, he reached out again to tell me about a new project they are embarking on and I will be sure to contribute
*Differentiate yourself- When William wrote to me, he assumed that I would remember him and with all the thousands of people who pass through his village over the years, he must have a great memory system- since he knew I was the one that sent him a book and a watch– or at least he made me feel special
Chief William truly made an impression on me!!
Andrea — this is a wonderful story and demonstrates how important it is to stay in touch with friends and clients — especially former clients. We think living in the western world with electricity and all the conveniences makes us smarter. But your example proves that’s not the case.