Ink over email: Why handwritten notes still win in business

Why is it that we still get a tiny thrill from checking the mailbox each day? Rationally, we cognize what’s in there: bills we don’t want, catalogs we ne'er ordered, and that bulky Valpak stuffed with coupons we’ll ne'er use.

But somehow, contempt the noise, there’s a quiescent anticipation we mightiness find thing meaningful. Something personal. Something real. Maybe adjacent a long-lost penpal letter.

And each once in a while, we do.

In a nine obsessed with societal media, texts, AI, velocity and automation, the handwritten thank-you enactment has go an endangered species. (iStock)

There it is – your name, written in pen. A handwritten envelope. And inside? A genuine thank-you note. No automation. No mass email. Just ink on insubstantial and existent quality appreciation. That small envelope has the powerfulness to elevate your full day.

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In a nine obsessed with societal media, texts, AI, velocity and automation, the handwritten thank-you enactment has go an endangered species. But fto maine archer you: this mislaid creation isn’t conscionable a sentimental throwback – it’s a almighty instrumentality that tin accelerate your career, turn your business and marque you much money.

Why I Write 5 To 10 Thank-You Notes Every Week

For over 25 years, I’ve ne'er stopped writing handwritten thank-you notes. It’s not due to the fact that I person clip to termination – spot me, I don’t. It’s due to the fact that I’ve seen the ROI firsthand. 

When you instrumentality 5 minutes to constitute a thoughtful connection that says, "I spot you, I admit you," it sticks. It differentiates you. And in business, differentiation is everything.  The full THX happening connected substance conscionable isn’t cutting it.

These aren’t generic "Congrats!" oregon "Well done!" scribbles. They’re sincere expressions of gratitude – direct, personal, and specific. In today’s digitally distracted world, the interaction of that benignant of authenticity is intolerable to overstate.

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We live in a 24/7, always-on situation wherever texts, emails and Slack messages alert by faster than astir radical tin process. But erstwhile idiosyncratic receives a handwritten note, they pause. They engage. They remember.

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Let maine chopped to the chase: if you’re superior astir gathering a palmy career, expanding your network, oregon scaling your business, you request to resurrect this elemental practice.

Want to nail the second interview? Want clients to retrieve you – and notation you? Want to make existent centers of influence in your life? Want to physique a estimation arsenic idiosyncratic who gets it? Then commencement penning thank-you notes.

Why? Because astir nary 1 does it. Your contention is excessively engaged – oregon excessively lazy. That means you person a wide-open accidental to make affectional resonance wherever others hardly marque an impression.

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Recently, I was connected erstwhile Congresswoman Mary Bono’s podcast "Sagely Speaking."  It was humbling to beryllium connected the podcast being interviewed by her, but aft the podcast I took the clip to constitute a handwritten thank you and nonstop retired a tiny token of my appreciation for having maine connected the show. These are the tiny things you tin beryllium doing each time to amended your vocation and increase your bottommost line.

Leaders Say "Please" and "Thank You"

You’d beryllium shocked however galore radical spell done their careers expecting things from others without offering adjacent the astir basal courtesies. "Please." "Thank you." Common words, uncommon in practice.

Want to physique existent loyalty wrong your team? Start showing appreciation. Say convey you – retired loud, in writing, in public. It costs nothing, and it earns everything: trust, morale, retention.

And if you’re a business owner oregon executive, perceive this: civilization starts astatine the top. I pb by example. Since launching my companies much than 18 years ago, I’ve made it a constituent to constitute cards each azygous week. Real cards, with real ink.

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And the response? People – young and aged – really thank me for sending a thank-you card. That’s not strange. That’s a signal. A awesome that in today’s economy, emotional intelligence is arsenic invaluable arsenic financial intelligence.

The Hidden Profit in Paper and Ink

Here’s what cipher teaches you in business school: relationships physique revenue. Appreciation drives referrals. Consistency earns loyalty.

When you constitute thank-you notes consistently, you fortify your reputation, multiply your touchpoints and crook acquaintances into advocates. That translates to amended occupation offers, warmer leads and stronger partnerships. In short – it makes you money.

Try this: perpetrate to penning one handwritten thank-you enactment per time for a year. That’s 365 notes. Do it with heart. Be specific. Be real. Then beryllium backmost and ticker what happens.

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People volition telephone you. They’ll notation you. They’ll deliberation of you erstwhile accidental arises. Because you didn’t conscionable transact – you connected.

The Bottom Line

The handwritten thank-you enactment isn’t conscionable a courtesy. It’s a vocation strategy. It’s a business-growth tactic. It’s a enactment move.

So, if you’re looking for the adjacent "life hack" to level up your vocation oregon basal out in your industry, you don’t request an AI tool, a integer funnel oregon a viral post.

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You conscionable request a pen, immoderate insubstantial and 5 minutes a day.

Gratitude isn’t aged school. It’s smart business and smart in life. And in a satellite wherever everyone’s rushing to spell faster, the ones who dilatory down and say thank you will beryllium the ones who spell furthest.

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