Why wouldn't you send a Thank You card?

Instead of schleping around Manhattan hawking all kinds of wine to restaurants, my son was approached by Domaine Serene to represent them in the northeast.  Last week the White House hosted a State Dinner for the President of France and Melania selected one of Domaine Serene's chablis.

II suggested he send a nice, not a drugstore thank you card.  He poo pooed the idea, he doesn't like Trump blah blah blah.  HEY!  Idjut, you're a salesman, DC is your area, it's only polite to follow up.  Even if all you get is a form letter, it would look cool on you home office wall.

I believe it's the right thing to do.

What do you think?

Politics aside, I think that it would be an enormous mistake not to send a thank you note. These people are all about etiquette and protocol. 

I would also send a card regardless of who was sitting in the seat. This is business.

You respect the position not the person if you not likey  

The most successful people send lots of hand written notes.   

And being in sales you need to suck up a lot.   Once in the late 1990’s we had an inside sales guy going to outside sales and we threw him a little party and somebody bought him a nice set of knee pads suggesting he will be doing a lot of, well, you know.  It’s sales.   

Think of it as sending a thank you to the institution of the President of the United States rather than the actual man, if you disagree with his politics. 

As in the military, salute the rank, not the man.

Another day I sent George Bush a Birthday card and got an official letter back.  It was really cool and I still have it. 

Getting an envelope marked “from the office of the President of the United States” is really exciting.  

Politics and liking people has absolutely nothing to do with it.  This is sales and as the rep, your job is to make everyone think that they are your favorite  - and most important - customer.  If you only want to sell to your friends, I think that's called "Amway".

Unanimous. Still. 

I think a nice card is definitely warranted.

Presidents come and go but doing business with the White House always looks impressive to other customers. Write the note.

Donnie and the Mrs. will never see the thank you.  The staff of the House who will still be there after the next administration will be, and they are who he should be sucking up to.

Yup, absolutely.  This isn't personal approval of the man, this is respect for the institution and gratitude for an honor to the business.

Wally said:

Presidents come and go but doing business with the White House always looks impressive to other customers. Write the note.

This. It's highly unlikely that your son dislikes Trump more than I do, but I would send a thank you card. Besides, it's Melania who ordered it, she's just along for this crazy ride like the rest of us

I have customers who have spewed all kinda stuff I don’t agree with at me, have (insert biased media outlet here that makes me ill) on their tv all day turned to 11, tried to jehova witness me on the way out the door at 10pm after busting my ass to get their house done for whatever they had happening that weekend.  

They ALL get thank you notes.  Politics is politics, business is business.  Money is all green(except for you canucks with all your colors and birds).  This is about potential money for the employer which could directly effect his livelihood.  

Pssshh, the real question is what kind of coupon or special offer for the next order do you include with the card.

An ex boss used to say "I'm not going to cut my nose off to save my face" which I'm pretty sure is wrong and he used it in the wrong context. However I got his point and I believe that's exactly what your son is doing.

I've always found it easier taking money from people I don't like. Send the thank you card. Even with the crazy odds of anyone named trump reading it, if they liked it, that's a pretty wealthy and influential circle for word of mouth to get around it, and a lot of those people like to drink. I think people forget Washington is full of people who've held jobs across multiple administrations, and don't worry about elections. Those are prime people to build a sales relationship with. 

This was Melania. I've got no problems with her. 

Politics aside, I'd send the card.

After our chat, this went out in yesterday's mail.

That's just what I was going to suggest. Send it specifically to Melania... She selected the wine, and probably hasn't had anything else to smile about since chatting with Obama at Mrs Bush's funeral.

Perfect. A well played move. Politics and sales need to remain separate. Shoot, I wouldn't have had half my customers if I actually had to agree with their politics as well. 

Streetwiseguy said:

Donnie and the Mrs. will never see the thank you.  The staff of the House who will still be there after the next administration will be, and they are who he should be sucking up to.

Wise words!