Thanks Junior Achievement and Chick-fil-A, for reminding me about the personal touches

Everyone is trying so hard to connect with their customers via digital, social and mobile. And those things are clearly important, no question about it.

But sometimes, its the personal touches that matter the most. I was reminded of that this morning when I got to the office and found a bunch of letters from the kids I taught entrepreneurship to last week via Junior Achievement.

The letters, all personal from the kids with comments about the sessions and how much they loved it, put together with construction paper and markers. It made my morning and nothing else could have made a bigger impact on me than this personal touch.

Personal letters from the kids I taught

Likewise, last week I took my daughters to our first Daddy Daughter Date Night at Chick-fil-A. What an incredible event that Chick-fil-A puts on. You sign up ahead of time and they’re waiting for you when you walk in the door.  You get to take a picture with the cow (of which my almost-3-year-old was terrified), you get seated at a table with a white cloth over it, and they take your order right there at the table. Throughout the dinner they come around with brownies and cupcakes and when you leave, the kids get a balloon and a stuffed cow.

Me and the girls at Chick-fil-A Daddy Daughter Date Night

They even have tips for the dads and the kids on possible talking subjects, which was funny as you can see below.

The tips for talking to your daughter :) As you can see I let my daughter answer all the questions.

I think brands can get caught up in the newest and coolest marketing tactics, or even in the tried and true. But sometimes you really need to think about personal touches and form longer lasting bonds with your customers that don’t always result in direct ROI today, but they help you build a better business.

Thanks, Junior Achievement and Chick-fil-A, for reminding me of that.