E-Mail Essentials

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E-mails We Love: Col. Littleton

Sherry Chiger March 5th, 2010

The e-mail from leather-good manufacturer/marketer Col. Littleton in response to my online catalog request isn’t the prettiest I’ve ever seen; it’s just a few lines of text, no graphics, not even a logo. Even so, it conveys the brand’s down-home ethos better than most other thank-you e-mails I’ve received.

In its entirety:

Hello Sherry,

Thanks so much for your catalog request! I know you will enjoy thumbing through the pages of our 2010 Catalog. No doubt you will find some unique gifts for yourself, family and friends.

Also, if you are ever in our neck of the woods, I’d like to invite you to visit our store in historic downtown Lynnville, Tennessee. We’d love to meet you!

We appreciate your interest in our products, Sherry, and look forward to helping you.

Have a wonderful day!

Best Regards,

Sandy White, Retail Store Manager, Customer Service

The personalization embedded in the message as well as in the salutation is great, giving this e-mail the appearance of not being a form letter. The invitation to the bricks-and-mortar store is a subtle way of confirming that the company isn’t some fly-by-night virtual presence, while the “We’d love to meet you!” is folksy and welcoming. I’m not naïve enough to think that if I did venture into the store and give my name, Sandy and her colleagues would rush to embrace me, but I’m sure they’d at least be friendly and able to effectively feign interest in me.

Even the three exclamation marks don’t bother me in this context, because they fit what I perceive as Sandy’s bubbly personality.

Usually I’d wrap up a post like this with some sort of sardonic remark, but gosh darn it, this e-mail is so dang warm and friendly, I just can’t. That’s about the worst I can say about it.