The importance of thank you notes

The importance of writing thank-you notes was reinforced to me years ago when I was on a Delta Airlines flight to New Orleans. I fly a lot, usually a couple flights a week -- so when it comes to the service provided by flight attendants, I'm sort of an expert.

On that particular day I received exceptional service from the moment I boarded the plane. The flight attendant hung my coat up, got me some lemon water, which is what I always drink, and provided excellent meal service. She smiled easily, had a positive attitude and just seemed so happy to be of help.

And it wasn't just towards me. She treated all the passengers the same way. So, I took out a piece of paper and wrote a thank-you note to the president of Delta Airlines. His name was listed in the inflight magazine. In the note, I was very specific. I referred to the flight attendant by name, which happened to be Linda Williamson, and I described exactly what she had done. Then, before sending it in to Delta, I gave it to Linda to read.

Why did I do that? Because it's important for people to know what they did right, so they can do it again.

After Linda read the letter, she came back to my seat and I noticed there were tears in her eyes. She was evidently deeply touched. We talked for a few minutes, and she explained that she had never received a letter quite like that one.

I said, "Well, that doesn't seem possible, Linda, not with the service you provide," and I asked her how many letters were in her file for the year. She said "eight," and by the way this was December, so that was only eight letters in over eleven months! "In fact," she said, "two of the letters were negative." -- Not negative about her, but the plane was late or the food wasn't good, and her name was mentioned as part of the crew, so it was in her file.

I asked her about how many people she came in contact with during a year, roughly. She estimated it was about 50,000. Because she'd been a flight attendant for 12 years, that meant she had served over half a million people. Yet in twelve years, she said she'd received only about 50 letters.

Only 50 people took the time to say something either good or bad out of half a million! So you see, not many people write thank-you notes—which is exactly why you should!

Here’s a thank-you note I once wrote to the president of a local health club in Scottsdale.

“Dear Mr. Hall, On December 15 my daughter Jill and I enrolled at your health club. The Fitness Consultant was Butch Ryan. At the time, Butch said he would help us set up a personalized program. He said he would teach us the best way to use the equipment and he said he would assist us in whatever way we needed. Plus, Butch told us that he would be there to make us feel welcome.

Mr. Hall, I'm a full time corporate seminar leader, so I'm very sensitive to the promises and presentation techniques of salespeople. I have attended your facility over 50 times now since that day in mid-December, and I feel it's important to report the results to you. Not only did Butch Ryan do everything he promised, he did even more! He's a credit to your organization. I don't think I've ever met a more service oriented and sincere salesperson.

Congratulations on hiring an individual like Butch!
Now why tell you all this, Mr. Hall? Because so much of what top management hears is negative, the problems and the complaints. Well, I'm writing to tell you that you have a great team of instructors, managers and salespeople, and leading that team is smiling, positive Butch Ryan.”

Now, perhaps that letter of mine will help you think of some letters you can write. But you might be thinking, why go to all that effort? Simply because most people don't. Linda received only 50 letters from over half a million people that she served.

And you know, Delta Airlines and most other major airlines give free flights for family members of an employee who receives a certain number of positive letters and “thank you” notes. They reward the winners.

So, you reward the winners too. Tell them what they did right so they know what to do next time, and so they know it makes a difference.

Over the years I lost track of Butch but I knew I'd always remember his attitude. And there’s a post script to the Butch Ryan story. About 10 years later, at my daughter’s wedding, a guest came up to me and said that even though we’d never met, we had a mutual friend. I asked who that was. "Butch Ryan" he replied. "Wow!" I said. "And how’s Butch doing?"

He was sorry to have to tell me that Butch had been killed in a car accident. What a shock! After a moment, I asked him how he knew that I knew Butch.

He said, "From that letter you wrote to his boss. Butch got a big raise and a promotion as a result of that letter you wrote — and they read your letter at Butch's funeral.

So the letter that took just a few minutes of my time to write, had meant so much to Butch.

Who in your life needs to know how good they are? Take the few minutes now to write and tell them. Act now — within 24 hours. It’s worth the time and effort.