The thank you note.
Perhaps it is because I was born in the South that at a young age I was taught to write thank you notes. It did not matter how big or small the gift—it was always acknowledged by a handwritten thank-you note. We used to tease our mother that she prepared a thank you note before attending a neighbor’s dinner party—and dropped it in the mailbox on our way out.
There was one gift that was always in our Christmas stockings—a box of thank you notes. We were allowed to play with toys for a while, but then were told to sit down and write our thank you notes. I remember it was often difficult to know what to write. “Thank you for the lovely sweater. I will enjoy wearing it.”
“I have always wanted a pair of red rubber boots. How did you know?” Sometimes I would write THANK YOU in really big letters followed by a colored exclamation point or a poorly drawn flower. It really did not seem to matter what I wrote, but that I wrote.
Last week I was delivering some job search training to newly unemployed individuals, and the topic was networking. I could hardly wait to share an idea for standing out—which is something we are all trying to do in a crowded market—a handwritten thank you note. Really. I have nothing against email as a primary way of communicating, but when it comes to the thank-you note, only a handwritten one will do. And, it just might get you
the attention you want.
Give it a try.