I Have a Fountain Pen that is 34 Years Old

My wife bought it for me when I started at Floral Glass. It cost about $50 then. If I added up all the costs of buying a new Bic pen every other day after losing one, this pen is certainly a better investment. So what? How is this important enough to write a blog about? Read on, dear friends, and you will learn about a great tool for your company.

Last week I received a wonderful new pen. It was made by a friend who does woodworking and who knew of my love for fountain pens. It is handmade from a beautiful Mexican wood, with a gold tip and a reservoir for ink. My current pen uses a cartridge, so I didn’t have an ink bottle to fill up the new pen. I went online to Colorado Pen, where I buy my current cartridges and ordered a bottle of ink.

It was paid for via a credit card through the internet. The bottle arrived, with an invoice marked “paid.” I was just about the toss the invoice when I happened to read it. Here it comes. The invoice stated: “Our small, locally owned business, appreciates your support.”

What a beautiful line. Do you place a similar line on your invoices or correspondence? Do you say “thanks,” or maybe mention “we carry energy savings glass,” or how about “we are available 24/7 for all of your glass needs,” or even “we sell more than glass, call us for decorative mirror,” and the best one “yes, we sell and install custom glass shower doors”?

Saying thank you to your customers is important, and so is letting them know of other products you carry. I am a consumer in this case, and reading the note from Colorado Pen guarantees I will buy from them in the future.

Owning my fountain pen brought a better idea than my last fortune cookie. Wow.