Thank you. Seriously.

Way too many folks don't bother with thank you notes. They are magic, and incredibly easy to send.

I recently wrote about the power of saying “I don’t know.” Read the whole thing, but the summary is simply that telling a client (or potential one!) “I don’t know” at least acknowledges that you heard them, you care about their question, and you’re open to finding an answer — even if you don’t have one yet.

There is similar power in saying “thank you.” And it’s shockingly rare to get thank you emails these days. Stand out by expressing gratitude.

Photo by Alexas_Fotos on Unsplash

Many of us have heard the advice that you should send a thank you note after a job interview. Shockingly few people actually do this. I have friends who are hiring managers who literally will not extend a job offer to an otherwise-qualified applicant if they don’t send a thank you note. If I’m hiring someone for a sales or customer-facing role, I count myself in that camp.

Send a thank you note after a job interview. Send a thank you note after people make introductions for you. I’ve written about being generous with your time and meeting with folks who won’t turn into paying customers anytime soon. When you do so, and those people don’t take an extra two minutes out of their day to send a thank you note… it sucks.

I know for some of us it’s easy to get swept up in crafting the perfect thank you note. But if you’re not sending one because you think it would take a couple hours to perfect — stop aiming for perfect. Send a two-sentence thank you note: Thanks so much for taking the time to meet with me. I really appreciated getting to speak!

We’re all busy. A short thank you note isn’t a bad thank you note, and it’s roughly infinitely better than no thank you note.

If you have the time, inclination, and writing chops to pull off a beautiful thank you note with paragraphs, by all means, go for it. But don’t let the fear of needing to send that artful note hold you back from sending anything at all. Thank you notes are meaningful. They spread good cheer and show you appreciation for the other person’s time. Send them.