How to Write the Perfect Customer Thank-You Note

Picture this: You arrive home to the joyous surprise of discovering a handwritten card — real mail! — hidden amongst the mound of daily junk mail. Woohoo!

At Help Scout, we are card-carrying members of the snail mail fan club. For the small amount of effort a handwritten customer thank-you note takes, it’s amazing the extent to which you can brighten the recipient’s day — and generate an indisputable return on investment for your business — by sending one.

Free PDF: 25 Ways to Thank Your Customers

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The ROI of customer thank-you notes

If it feels icky to acknowledge the ulterior motives behind showing gratitude, remember that you’re running a business, and without your customers, you wouldn’t have a business to run.

You appreciate your customers and want them to return and recommend you, and handwritten thank-you letters are a proven (and relatively painless) way to go about earning their loyalty.

Need proof? Let’s take a look at some research.

In one experiment that aimed to increase personal contact between troubled youths and the case managers helping them, the case managers and their supervisors received weekly thank-you cards from the homes they visited. These thank-yous prompted an increase from 43 percent of youths receiving a weekly visit to 78 percent.

When the thank-you cards stopped, the visits dropped back down to 50 percent.

In another experiment, the staff of Donors Choose — a platform that allows givers to fund the public school classroom projects of their choice — sent handwritten thank-you notes to half of all recent first-time donors. The other half didn’t receive a note.

A whopping 38 percent of people who received a thank-you note were more likely to give again.

The organization now works handwritten thank-you notes into its business model. Why? Donors who opt-in to receiving them increase their average annual donation amount by $41, which translates to more than $3 million in additional donations per year.

As Robert Cialdini explains in his bestselling book Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion, the principle of reciprocity is a powerful motivator.

By nature, we don’t like to feel indebted to others, so if someone gives us something, we’re wired to give back. When customers receive a token of appreciation as heartfelt as a handwritten thank-you note, they feel compelled to return the favor — ideally with repeat business and public advocacy of your product or service.

How to write a customer thank-you note

Use this template to write thank-you notes your customers will love:

1. Greet your customer by name.
2. Express your gratitude, clearly stating why you’re sending the note.
3. Include details about why enjoyed your experience with this customer — this is a prime opportunity to be specific and thoughtful.
4. Repeat your thanks.
5. Close with a signoff (Best, Yours Truly, Kindest Regards, Warm Regards, Cheers, ♡, whatever feels right for you and your company), and sign your name.

Customer thank-you note examples

If you need a little more inspiration, consider these three examples:

Example 1

Example 2

Example 3

Handwritten thank-you card do’s and don’ts

When sending customers handwritten thank-you cards, follow these tips to ensure your efforts reap the most positive response possible:

• Don’t use a red pen! It’s the equivalent of sending a “shouting” email in all caps. Blue or black ink is ideal. But if you’re a purple glitter gel pen kind of person… well, your sparkly message will probably make your customer smile.
• Do use note cards or stationery that reflects your business. If you’re a vet clinic, keep it playful with paw-printed cards. If you’re an architectural firm, reflect your image with minimalist, artful cards. A postcard does the trick, too.
• Don’t make excuses for your handwriting! If your second-grade teacher wrote “see me” on your handwriting homework, whatever. “Good” penmanship is overrated — as long as your note is legible, that’s what matters. Your handwriting is unique, which makes a personal note feel even more special and “real” to the recipient.
• Do respond in a timely fashion. It’s called “snail mail” for a reason, but it’s best not to wait so long that your customer forgets having done the thing you’re thanking them for.
• Don’t include anything overly business-y or self-promotional, like coupons or business cards. The point is to convey genuine gratitude, not to promote your business (that happens as a natural side effect). Stickers are A-OK, though.
• Do showcase your company’s personality! If smiley faces and emoticons (or cat doodles, or a crayon drawing from your kid) are in line with your brand, by all means, include them. Mat Patterson and Emily Triplett Lentz attend a thank-you-note-sending party at Help Scout HQ
• Do include a little something extra when the situation merits it! Send a token of appreciation along with your note. Depending on the occasion, we send a book, stickers, a T-shirt or even baked goods.

Our favorite thank-you note stationary

Need help shopping for the right thank-you card? We’re fans of the personalizable thank-you cards and stationery at Pinhole Press. Use your company’s logo or that cute group photo from your last team retreat.

We also adore the truly special pop-up cards from Lovepop:

If you like more creative control, you can print your own custom-designed cards and envelopes — that’s what we do here at Help Scout. If you choose to create your own stationery, work with a designer who’s familiar with the printing process and can provide advice on card stock, dimensions, and the various printing options available.

Our note cards are printed by Mama’s Sauce on 100-lb. duplexed cover stock with plain white matching A2 envelopes. Embossing, debossing, foil stamping, and letterpress are all fun things if you have a bigger stationery budget.

Options for sending customer thank-you notes at scale

If you have more cards to send than you have people/time to hand-write them, one of the following options is certainly better than nothing at all:

• Postable: Postable prints your custom message in one of its patented handwriting fonts on its 100% recycled cards, then stamps and mails the cards for you. The only downside: Your customers might be able to tell the “handwriting” isn’t real.
• Handwrytten: If you don’t want to send customer printed handwriting, Handwrytten might be a better option. Handwrytten’s robots (yes, actual robots) handwrite your custom message in real ink.
• FeltApp: FeltApp lets you scrawl messages on your iPhone or iPad in your own handwriting. Choose a photo from your own library, then trace your message and the address (even the envelope is handwritten). They take care of the mailing.

Sending a thank-you note is a gesture well worth the time

You can exhibit sincere gratitude in a well-worded email, but there are many occasions when you should make the extra effort to mail a real note. Handwritten thank-you notes convey sincere and heartfelt gratitude in a way that email simply can’t.

And while sending personal thank-you notes for every transaction or special occasion isn’t necessarily always scaleable — and the ROI on acts of kindness can be tricky to justify in a spreadsheet — thank-you notes do keep a line of communication open between you and your customer, and they keep your business top-of-mind.