I'm not quite religious, but pretty regular about sending hand written thank you notes. Most frequently I'll do this after a first face to face meeting, but there are numerous other times I'll use as an excuse as well.

These thank you's are something I've done for years for a variety of reasons. I always thought there were powerful, but I couldn't always prove it.

Anecdotally I always thought they easily put me in the top 1%. In the past I frequently asked people how often they received thank you cards. For most it's a VERY rare event. In fact the one time that you would think it's almost obligatory to send a thank you note; after a job interview. The numbers are almost depressing. I've recently asked hiring managers I know how often they're getting thank you notes. The most common response I heard was: "rarely."

So the thank you note for me was just an easy way to stand out. Nobody else is doing it so it's easy to top the "everybody else." Plus it gives me another opportunity to put myself in front of somebody so that they'll remember me, like me, think of me, whatever. E-mail just isn't enough anymore. It doesn't require any real effort.

Recently the real proof in the pudding came. As part of my regular process I sent one of my hand written cards. Several days later I received the following e-mail from one of the executives I had met with:

Not to start an endless circle of "thank-you," "No, thank YOU," I must say that your note was the first hand-written thank-you note I have received in a business context in years. It is rare to see a hand-written note in this age of emails! You are to be commended for that gesture.

We look forward to receiving your proposal…

There you have it. Real proof that this stuff works. I'm sure it wasn't the only reason, but I also ended up getting their business in a very competitive situation.

Do you send cards? Were you aware that you could have this kind of an impact for $1.00 - $2.00 and two or three minutes of your time? If the averages I've seen hold true than I can almost guarantee you're NOT. Why not? Make it a part of your standard process to start sending hand written cards to new people you meet.

You can thank me later... preferably in a hand written card!

Happy Networking!

Scott Ingram
NetworkInAustin.com

P.S. If you meet with multiple people. Let's say you get a meeting with a CEO, CFO and HR Manager... Send cards to everyone individually! Each person is just as important as the other. Don't make the mistake of only sending a card to the person YOU perceive as being the most important. You wouldn't want to negate your efforts.