In his research, social scientist, Randy Garner, mailed surveys to people with a request to complete it. The survey was accompanied by either:
a) a handwritten sticky note attached to a cover letter requesting completion of the survey;
b) a similar handwritten message in the corner of the cover letter; or
c) the cover letter and survey alone.
The results …
More than 75% of the people completed the survey with the sticky note attached. While 48% of those who received the handwritten note responded, only 36% complied when simply receiving the cover letter with no personal note of any kind.
The results of this study point to the recognition people have when you take a little extra time to add a personal touch. The more personalized the request, the more likely someone will comply. When was the last time you sent a colleague a hand-written thank you note? How might attaching a sticky note to your next fundraising letter increase the response? Try it, and tell me about your success.
For this and 49 more persuasion tips, I highly recommend the book: Yes!: 50 Scientifically Proven Ways to Be Persuasive by Goldstein, Martin and Cialdini. And, yours truly has a case study published on pages 230-231.
