The other Saturday I popped into by local Dunelm store to buy a blind. It only needed to be a straight forward magnolia one for a set size, so after a quick browse in the blind section and check of sizes and costs I selected the right one and headed to the till to pay up.

It was here that the till operator offered me a piece of paper looking a lot like an A5 sized advertisement flyer therefore first impressions suggesting some kind of offer they were advertising. They then continued to explain that it was a safety sheet to explain about the safe use of the blind I was purchasing for when children are around.

I instinctively said no it’s OK as kids won’t be near, but it kept niggling at me while I was then paying up – not so much as a need, but intrigued by the way they were communicating this to people. It seemed unusual, almost old-school, whereas now surely there should be a slick warning on the blind packaging, or a clever internet link to read more or even see a quick video about.

It therefore got me thinking about good old slips of paper to hand out and to communicate things to people, whether customers and clients, suppliers, or the general public. And I reckon there are 3 cool lessons to learn from this:

1. The principle of a hand-out is good. There’s something about receiving it in your hand there-and-then, something tangible in your palms that you can touch and feel and then read. We’re probably all still used to these being handed to us on the streets or somewhere advertising something, particularly A5 sized. While some will be blatant advertising that causes us to instinctively turn off, they can provide offers and deals which can get more interesting.

2. The information being communicated can be wide, but needs to be interesting. So here it was all about “Blind Safety Guidance” – not the most interesting subject in the world, but nicely done in actual fact. A couple of simple diagrams, not a lot of waffle text, and Dunelm branding colour scheme.

3. The way it is delivered is important. So these were not just placed inside the blind as often these warning-style ones are, or even on a stand or being dished out, but it was actually a good strategic point at the till. The lady simply had a pile of these next to her, and I guess with Dunelm selling so many blinds they are more geared up to this and simply handing these out naturally to people who buy a blind. Great timing and approach.