*If you are saying thank you for a thank you gift, sending them a note on Twitter or Facebook or via email to acknowledge receipt of the gift and their kindness is perfectly acceptable. Drafting a handwritten note of gratitude for the other person's note of gratitude is a bit overkill in these types of situations.
*If you are sending a thank you gift that includes an online order (flowers, gift cards, etc), then a handwritten note doesn't need to arrive a few days later as well. The note that is printed from your order on the gift tag is sufficient.
*If you are saying thank you and not sending an online gift, then it should be via a handwritten note and not done via email or in a Twitter message.
Saying thank you should never be a matter of efficiency. There are some things in life and business that you should slow down for and expressing your gratitude is one of them. Even from a pure business standpoint, investing the time and energy into saying thank you via snail mail will set you apart from the majority of your competition because most of them won't bother saying thank you at all, and those that do will do so via email. It's not hard to tell which company will stand out.
What are your thoughts on saying thank you online?
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2 comments:
This post comes at an interesting time for us Liene, as we are going through our Mother's personal effects after losing her a couple of weeks ago. Of the many things she kept, were all things written, personal letters, love letters from my father, Condolence cards to my Grandmother after my Grandfather died, all of our autograph books from grade school. Thank you notes for all occasions and her rough drafts of the thank you and birthday cards she wrote....
At this time of loss, all of these notes and letters that span now 70-80 years tell a sweet and compelling story of her very connected life.....
We also have recieved many beautiful emails from friends far and near that reached us immediately and touched us so.
I would never begin to judge a digital message, as its kindness and sentiment is as sincere as any written word....but oh the lovliness of a string of words written in one's unique handwritting on paper that was chosen by it's writer, the envelope and it's postage and the date stamp of it's cancellation, not to mention the reaching into the mailbox to find something that is actually of value.....that can travel the distance of time....and resonates with the sweet energy of it's giver in such a physical way....
We are in the process of archiving all of them into one book, we will also digitize it so our families can have a copy.....
But I think the original could very well be the only thing we fight over......
warm regards,
deborah
I most definitely agree that hand-written thank you notes are the way to go. My mother instilled this in me as a child and I continue it today. It is surprising to hear the reactions of people when they receive them because it is becoming a practice used less and less. I remember that after receiving one of many scholarships in college, I sent a thank you note to the organization that gave me it (as well as all others) and I was informed that I was the only awardee who had sent in a thank you note. I couldn't believe it! These people are giving you money to fund your education and my fellow awardees couldn't take 5 minutes and 44 cents to say thank you? Just baffled me to tell you the truth.
Now I live in Chile, where the culture of sending cards (be it birthday, anniversary, anything) does not really exist. It is quite hard to find cards, there are limited options when you do and they are expensive. However, although it makes getting cards for people a bit more difficult, it hasn't stopped me from doing so. When I am back in the US, I always buy tons of blank cards so that I can use them for thank you cards and sending little notes to friends & family back home.
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