What do you say?

Write your thank-you notes

With Ann Humphries, ETICON

(CNN) -- Just when you thought it was safe to finish off that holiday box of candy at the secretary's desk.

You're feeling grateful, aren't you, just to have made it into the Third Millennium without having to hear Charlotte Church sing "Winter Wonderland" again.

Once more, you can get into your office without being groped by the company Christmas tree in the lobby.

And, best of all, the staffers are back from their holiday vacations. No more Yuletide Festival of Empty Chairs. It's like a gift from the Magi, isn't it? Somebody's finally here to do some work again. Gloria in excelsis deo.

QUICK VOTE
	Have you done your thank-you notes for this year's business gifts? Yep. They're all done. And I feel great about it. I could get them done faster if I'd quit stopping to do Quick Votes. Haven't even started. Hey, maybe it's so late now that I should wait until next year ...? View Results

But wait -- before you hit that chocolate-covered kumquat. Isn't that a gift card you see? Yeah, right there. Under the corner of the box. "With best wishes for the season from your friends at Aardvark & Armadillo Inc."

CNN: Uh-oh. You know who we're going to tell, don't you? Now you're in trouble.

Ann Humphries: My mother always said you can't play with your toys until you've done your thank-you notes.

Now, before you say they're not really necessary, just think about a time when you've given someone something and didn't get thanked.

OK. So you do thank-you notes. They don't have to be long. Think sound bites. And you don't need to gush. Don't be terse, either, but two sentences often will do the job.

You don't need to send notes for simple gifts exchanged in the office and not of great value. In those cases, a verbal thanks is fine. For a gift that's a bit more, you can do a phone call or e-mail. You thank people according to the scale of the gift.

When you get group gifts -- like holiday baskets for everybody in your firm -- you might divide up those thank-you notes. Gladys does this one, BooBoo does that one.

The ones you really have to deal with are the notes for the nicer gifts. This is where you need to think nice paper, a good pen, a stamp -- no postage meter on this. You can have the envelope put through a good printer but don't use labels.

LET US THANK YOU
	We've had many good questions, comments and issues brought to our attention by Corporate Class readers and we hope you'll keep them coming. Have a workplace issue you'd like to see addressed? Not sure what to do about a situation you see coming in your career? Let us know and we'll consider taking it on here in the column. Please feel welcome to use our submission form to talk to us -- and we'll thank you for your time.

I recommend that companies invest in some small correspondence cards for such occasions -- thank you, congratulations, good job. Once you reach a certain level, this is just a tool you need. Eventually, you may get to engraved stationery. Earlier on, embossed or plain printing is fine.

What's really preferable is monarch-size stationery -- 7 by 10 inches -- something that's handsome, feels good in your hand. It says quality. This is where paper is powerful. There are so many beautiful papers now.

When deciding whether your notes should be hand-written or typed, take into account your handwriting. Is it decent? People don't mind a typed note, although it has to be personally signed, of course. The point is that it needs to be customized. If they've sent you a $50 gift basket and you send them a form note, there could be a disconnect in your business.

Let's assume you're hand-writing your notes. It's preferable to use a fountain pen or roller-ball pen. You can expand it in terms of color -- from the standard blue and black to rich brown or green or even purple. I think people will accept a thank-you note in ballpoint, but it's not as good. If you're going to the trouble, go to the trouble.

There are a lot of nice, inexpensive calligraphy pens now. They make it fun. Assemble your tools. Interesting stamps, nice papers.

I like to budget time for it. Put on good music, get something you like to drink. It usually will take less time than you plan. Another way is to put your notes into a Ziploc bag and have them with you -- waiting in traffic, sitting in line at the cleaners, wherever.

You can use a return-address sticker if you'd like to. Or if you're having stationery printed for the purpose, you'll have the return address printed onto the envelopes, of course. Your notes have to be hand-stamped, metering looks too manufactured.

As for what to write, I recommend you not start with "Thank you for ..." -- instead, describe the gift, be specific, tell them something you're doing with it -- except "I'm passing it on to someone else." Tell them it was thoughtful of them to give it to you.

Think how much companies and businesspeople spend on marketing -- and how little on thank-you notes. Once you get started on them, it's like taking a nice walk. And you'll feel so good when you're done.

Ann Humphries, founder and president of ETICON, Inc. and a Certified Professional Consultant to Management, includes several Fortune 500 companies among her clients. She's been featured in the Wall Street Journal, Fortune and Money, and on CNN, CBS and Lifetime TV. You can contact her at www.eticon.com.

-- Interview, Porter Anderson

Working your way into the real millennium: Out with the old
December 28, 2000
Charitable solicitations at work: 'I gave at the office' -- and gave and gave
December 21, 2000
Gift exchanges in the workplace: The business of gifts
December 14, 2000
What not to do at the business party: Survive it with your career intact
December 7, 2000
What to do at the business party: Working the room
December 1, 2000
How to handle the business RSVP
November 23, 2000
Cellular phones in the workplace: We've got your number
November 6, 2000

ETICON

Note: Pages will open in a new browser window

External sites are not endorsed by CNN Interactive.