I received several questions about this topic this week. Here’s a post that I updated for you that covers the topic of Business Holiday Thank You Notes!
A site visitor writes:
I would like to know the etiquette on thank you notes when it comes to business holiday gifts. I once read that sending a thank you via email is not proper, is this true?
Great question and one I bet others have wondered about too!
I believe that the effort you put into something shows your level of sincerity and in the case of thank you notes, gratitude. Especially when it comes to building those oh-so-important business partnerships.
For example, when a client does something nice for me, sends flowers for my birthday or a gift around the Holidays, they get a personally written and hand-addressed thank you note via old-fashioned snail mail. That note goes out the very next day. Some say that makes me old-fashioned. I don’t thinks so — some things never go out of style and handwritten thank you notes are one of them!
I am blessed that when it comes to my clients, who I work closely with on their projects, we are on a first name basis. In most cases our relationship goes beyond the client/vendor formality. Because of this a thank you email just wouldn’t seem adequate.
Choices Make a Statement
Yes, I could send my thank you by email. I am in the technology business after all and that would make sense — some folks wouldn’t think twice about that. But would that show my sincere gratitude as much as taking the time to buy the card, write my note and hand-address the envelope, pay the postage and send it off?
Probably not…
How Personal is the Relationship?
On the other hand, I do have vendors that send me holiday gifts. It is a very nice sentiment but they aren’t really from a person to me — they are from a company. In that case I do send a thank you email to my contact at that company thanking them for the gift and for thinking of me.
Just like anything we talk about, use your discretion based on the type of relationship you have with the giver. Here I go talking about discretion again! So many things end up right back to that word, don’t they?
And with that Happy New Year and I’ll catch you next year!
Have a question you would like me to cover in a Blog post? Click here and ask away!
