My son ran into his High School AP Biology teacher at the grocery store yesterday. George was thrilled to see him, and told him how much he appreciated the thank you card Michael sent him for writing a recommendation letter in support of Michael’s scholarship application. George went on to say,
“Out of the hundreds of AP students I’ve written recommendations for, how many thank you notes do you think I’ve received?”
His answer: “Zero.”
Just think about what a difference it makes to someone to be appreciated! Michael literally made his mentor’s day with that card. How much influence and (positive) visibility will you create for yourself just by simple steps like this, where all you are doing is the right thing – something our parents and grandparents taught us?
And with the low percentage of people who take the time to take the extra step to thank people in writing (even if it’s by email), you have a great opportunity to stand out from the crowd!
By the way, George also commented on how professional the card was that Michael sent him. If you’re interested in a simple system that will make it extremely easy (and inexpensive) to send very professional, personalized cards, here’s what Michael used, and what I use in my own business, as well as for all my personal birthday, anniversary, holiday, etc. cards.