In business, as in personal relationships – the Thank You – is often informal. Sometimes spoken, often just a brief email, the thank you is tossed off as if it were not important. And yet, if you want your clients to feel special, appreciated and to want to do business with you again, a thank you is a powerful tool.
The art of the written thank you is fading away, and yet a personal hand written thank you still has raw power. It says you thought that the person was important enough to put personal effort into a card or letter. The recipient cannot help to feel special, and perhaps flattered, if they understand just how busy you are.
Receiving a thank you encourages the behavior that is being thanked – whether it was a business transaction or referral, interview or a gift. It is feedback of the nicest kind, made memorable by your sincere effort. I still keep many of the thank you notes I have received. They give me pleasure just rereading them, and remembering the person who wrote the note.
And so dear readers, I encourage you to exercise this effort as often as you can, it will make a strong positive impression. Plus, the act of writing a thank you allows you to actually think about and feel the gratitude (which is always a good thing in this troubled world).
Thank you for reading this, please come back often. :-)
Tagged: courtesy, etiquette, Thank you
