Writing Thank You Notes for Appreciation the Right Way

The example above talks of a real estate agent who wants to recognize the people they’ve worked with over the years, but thank you notes for appreciation can also be used for customer relations; essentially customer appreciation. It’s really direct mail marketing at its core.

No matter the reason you’re considering thank you notes for appreciation, the same outline is followed. Work your way through these 5 steps to compose a more effective note. 

Stay on-brand with your greeting. 

The first words a recipient reads after opening a thank you note for appreciation is the greeting. How you open the note must fall in line with your personal or brand persona. If you’re more formal you may want to stick with “Dear” or “Hello.” If you’re more laid back you can try “Hey,” “Hi,” “What’s up,” or “Aye.” Keep with the voice you use as part of your personal or business brand because that’s what people are familiar with.

Another consideration with the thank-you note greeting is the recipient’s name. You always want to use the first name, but never the last name. Even in formal situations using the first name feels more intimate in that the reader feels more at ease. When the situation is more relaxed, you may choose to use a nickname.

Describe the circumstances surrounding the thank you note for appreciation.

Start off your thank you note for appreciation with an explanation for why you’re writing in the first place. This part of the note could go a million ways. There are countless reasons to show appreciation, so how do you know what to say?

Talk briefly about the event, the conversation, the meeting, the party, whatever the case. Here you’re building up to the point where the recipient does something that deserves appreciation. Think of the start of the note’s body as the thesis statement explaining the purpose of the message.

Share how much you appreciate them and why.

Now you’ve made it to the place where you share what the recipient did to earn appreciation and how much you value them for what they did. This is the apex of the thank you note for appreciation. The part where your purpose is revealed. You’ve just peaked the reader’s mood. They’re feeling gratitude because someone took the time to write a handwritten thank-you note to them. 

Again, though it may seem like thank you notes for appreciation will only work between two familiar people, businesses can use these same tactics to improve customer relationships, boost website traffic, increase sales, and more. We’ll lay out exactly how in the samples and templates section below.

Finish the thank-you note with a kind word.

A compliment works wonderfully at this spot. Choose a complement that’s personal to the recipient. The more customized the thank you notes for appreciation, the happier they are, the more gratitude they feel, which often leads to reciprocation. For businesses, it’s this feeling of reciprocity that convinces the lead or customer to act on the call-to-action

Close the note with a call-to-action in a voice that’s on-brand.

This step applies to businesses only. As you’re closing out thank you notes for appreciation, you want to tell the reader what to do next. 

This sounds a little harsh, but real-life experience has shown that if you don’t give the reader a little direction, whether it be ads, content, social media posts, or whatever communication, they won’t have any idea what to do so they’ll do nothing. No action is the worst action in marketing.

Thank You Notes for Appreciation: Samples & Templates

We’ve broken down the parts of a thank you note for appreciation, but we need to solidify these steps with samples and templates. There are countless situations where you could send thank you notes for appreciation, but we’ll focus on thanking friends and peers and honoring customers.

Thanking friends and peers: samples.

You’ve just finished your last class. The time has come to retire from college teaching and start another stage of life. Before departing you want to send your peers thank you notes for appreciation. Try writing:

Dear Sam,

I’ve known you for 20 years as a fellow professor at Easterly College. For the last 10 of those years, I’ve known you as my friend. It’s time for me to head out – they don’t let retired people just hang around all day. 

So I’m writing to tell you I’m honored to call you my friend and peer after all these years. You’ve always been there for me whether the topic is work or life and I can’t thank you enough. 

I appreciate you for being a part of my journey.

Take care,

William

In this thank-you note sample, you have a professor thanking his fellow professor and friend for all they’ve done for him. It’s a sincere note with a touch of fun, perfect for the situation. 

Let’s take a look at another sample where a company’s showing appreciation to employees.

Hey Urnie,

You’ve been working with Acme Brands for more than 15 years. During that time you’ve consistently shown up for work on time, attended company events and parties, and worked with multiple department heads on marketing campaigns. 

We’re thrilled to have you as a member of our Acme Brands family. As a token of our appreciation, we’ve enclosed a $100 gift card. 

We appreciate you!

Deondre Jones

CEO of Acme Brands

Thanking friends and peers: templates.

Now, let’s break down those samples into something to be used by anyone instead of in one particular situation. 

Dear [first.name],

I’ve known you for [no.] years as a [position] at [business]. The last [no.] of those years I’ve known you as [my friend, my brother…]. [personal message in your (or your brand) voice explaining the purpose for the thank-you note].

So I’m writing to tell you I’m honored to call you my [friend, roommate, coworker…] and [peer, boss, team lead…] after all these years. You’ve always been there for me whether the topic is [topic] or [topic] and I [phrase reiterating appreciation]. 

I appreciate you for being a part of my journey.

Take care,

[sender.name]

Feel free to make even more changes to the template to better serve your purpose or brand persona. We’re here to make sending handwritten thank-you notes for appreciation all the easier.

Here’s the second sample is broken down into a template many businesses can use to write thank you notes for appreciation.

Hey [first.name],

You’ve been working with [company] for more than [no.] years. During that time you’ve [action #1], [action #2], and [action #3]. 

We’re thrilled to have you as a member of our [company] family. [token of appreciation] (ex” As a token of our appreciation we’ve enclosed a $100 gift card.) 

We appreciate you!

[sender.name]

[position – company]

Using these templates try writing a thank you note for appreciation of your own. Follow the 5 steps to make it even easier.

Honoring customers: samples.

When it comes to businesses showing appreciation to customers the wording may be different, but these thank you notes for appreciation are written the same way.

Here we have a company reaching out to a recent customer to say thank you for doing business with us. The note could say:

Hey Jenny,

You recently purchased a skateboard deck from Phil’s Skate Shop on 23rd. I wanted to drop you a note to say thank you for choosing our business. We opened the store during the pandemic and stood strong when businesses all around were failing. It’s because of people like you we’re still here today.

Thank you for being one awesome person!

Jacob Cholra

Deckhand – Phil’s Skate Shop on 23rd

We’re positive most businesses could see themselves in this sample thank you note for appreciation, but to make it easier check out the corresponding template below.

In this sample, we’ll check out a business that emailed 500 regular customers a 100% off coupon by accident. The company writes thank you notes for appreciation in an attempt to smooth over the mistake and convince the customers to stick around. The note could say:

Dear Halle,

We’re terribly sorry for the Garden Pets coupon code mishap and the subsequent cancellation of your order. As soon as the mistake was brought to our attention, we removed the faulty coupon code and sent you an apology email with the correct code, but that’s not enough. 

We’ve included a 50% off one item coupon and a $50 gift card for the trouble we caused. 

Again, we’re immensely sorry for our error.

Jason Thiesman

CEO – Garden Pets

You see here appreciation notes don’t just work between two people. They can work on a grand scale between companies and the entire workforce or customer base. Let’s jump right into the corresponding templates.

Honoring customers: templates.

We realize these samples are quite detailed, but the following templates will show you how to break them down so they can be used in many different ways. We’ll start with the thank you for your purchase note.

Hey [first.name],

You recently purchased a(n) [item] from [company]. I wanted to drop you a note to say thank you for choosing our business. [something that happened to the company] (ex: We opened the store during the pandemic and stood strong when businesses all around were failing.) [what did the recipient do to help / how are they associated] (ex: It’s because of people like you we’re still here today.)

Thank you for being one awesome person!

[sender.name]

[position – company]

Now the possibilities for this template are endless, but what about the second sample where a business is apologizing to a customer?

Dear [first.name],

We’re terribly sorry for the [company] [mishap] and the [what happened because of the mishap]. As soon as the [mistake, problem, issue…] was brought to our attention, we [action #1] and [action #2], but that’s not enough. 

We’ve included a [appreciation gift #1] and a [appreciation gift #2] for the trouble we caused. 

Again, we’re immensely sorry for our error.

[sender.name]

[position – company]

Feel free to use the above samples and templates for sending thank you notes for appreciation.

Scaling Thank You Notes for Appreciation

We’re left with a problem when it comes to these thank you notes for appreciation. Who has the time and workforce to accomplish handwriting, in some cases, 500 or more thank you notes? 

The beauty of technology is now you don’t have to. AI-driven pen plotters are programmed to write handwritten notes with perfect pressure, slant, and flow. They use real pens and make real errors like humans. And the best part is they do it at scale. 

We know that’s super exciting, but before jumping in you need to learn what to look for in a reliable and affordable service. Here are 5 important things to consider before signing up. 

Transparent pricing.

Do you know the exact price of each note? How about the total price to send 500 notes? When considering the price, always ask if there are any additional fees added to the final cost. Imagine being quoted $3 a note or $1500 for 500 notes then, when the invoice arrives the price jumps to $2000 after fees are added. Transparency in pricing means no hidden fees. 

Quality cardstock and envelopes.

We received a “handwritten” note the other day (it was actually printed, but we’ll give them an E for effort) and the envelope was so thin you could see through it. The glue was stronger than the paper so it sort of tore open more than anything. Inside was a card just as thin as the envelope with more printed “handwritten” words. 

The thing is, when we saw the nearly see-through envelope it immediately told us that someone made a bad business decision. That tainted our idea of the person or company that sent it from the start. Priming us to say no to anything they offer. 

What this all means is that quality matters. 

Cardstock needs to be at least 100 lb weight, but 110 lb is even better. The envelope needs to be between 70 and 80 lb weight.

Real ink pens.

This one is a given, but far too many companies still choose the printed option. Advanced handwritten notes services use pen plotters that hold real ink pens. You want an ink that stays bold over time and weathers well. Gel ink pens are a great option. 

You also want the writing to have the tell-tale signs of a human’s touch. Small errors in characters, varied character and line spacing, and the pressure indent that happens when writing with a real pen on paper. 

Speedy turnaround time.

The last thing you want is to wait six weeks for your thank-you note order to be written, stamped, and mailed. Appreciation needs to be timely, not delayed. The longer it takes to reach the friend, peer, colleague, or customer, the less authentic and heartfelt it feels.

So, you’re looking for a company that offers a fast turnaround time while maintaining high-quality notes and amazing customer service. 

This is not an all-inclusive list. You also want to consider price, service support, and scalability, to name a few.

Looking Back at Thank You Notes for Appreciation

Thank you notes for appreciation are a time-honored custom, but scaling them can be difficult. That’s where AI-driven handwritten note services come in handy. Pen plotters that hold genuine ink pens and produce high-quality thank you notes with the telltale signs of human touch are used by these services. 

When considering a handwritten note service, be sure to look for one that is transparent with pricing, offers quality cardstock and envelopes, utilizes real ink pens, and has a speedy turnaround time. With these factors in mind, you’ll be sure to find a service that meets your needs and exceeds your expectations.