The Lost Art of the Handwritten Thank You Note

I’m really not sure why any of us get excited about going to get our mail anymore — we already know what’s in there. Here’s mine on average: three bills, five different types of nonsensical catalogs I didn’t order, and one incredibly bulky Val-Pak stuffed with coupons, sound familiar? Even the halfhearted effort of companies that send us birthday cards unsigned still doesn’t seem to be able to break our spirit around the excitement of getting the mail. But every once in a while when the sun shines bright and the weather is oh so perfect, somebody actually sends us a handwritten note and there it is—our day is made.

For more than twenty years now, I have never stopped sending handwritten thank you notes. Notes that have a personalized message so somebody on the other end actually knew that you took the time to really say thanks. Not some text that says ‘congrats!’ or ‘awesome!’ or ‘way to go,’ but a truly heartfelt note that expresses the gratitude of saying thanks for something you really appreciated from the person on the other end. In today’s 24-7 hyper-connected society, being able to unplug for a minute or two to ready a handwritten thank you can mean more than you ever know to the recipient.

Not sure what to say? Download this: [eBook] Customer Communications — Business Writing Fundamentals

So, do you really want to get ahead in your career? Do you want to bring in more customers and have them refer you more new customers? Do you want to move from the 2nd interview to the 3rd interview the next time you are looking for a job? Do you want to become a more credible and likable figure in your community. Start writing thank you notes every single day. Your competition is either too lazy or unwilling to carry out this five or ten minute task on a consistent basis.

How do I know this? I’ve seen it. Since I opened my business, I write somewhere in the vicinity of 25-30 cards every week. Routinely, I get responses from younger and older people alike actually thanking me for sending the card. That’s weird, isn’t it? Thanking me for sending the thank you card? No, it’s really not weird at all. Thank you notes are such an anomaly in the digital world that human beings crave to be touched with some non-electronic sentiment so they know that there are other human beings who care out there.

Well… I do care. And I’m sharing this with you because if you start implementing this even just a few times a week, you’ll change the results you’ve been getting and you’ll make other people’s lives better… Thank you 🙂