Holiday Thank You Guide

The holidays are a time to give and receive which means that they are also a time to say "Thank You" frequently. In general, this is a great time of year to thank friends, clients, customers, and family for their friendship, business, and general support. Whom should you thank? Here is a quick guide to holiday thank-yous:

1. Clients - send a card, gift, email, or make a special phone call to thank your valued clients.

2. Customers - make a special effort to ensure that your customers know how much you appreciate them. Offer a discount, give a nominal gift, or just smile and say thank you.

3. Vendors - send thank-you notes, cards, emails or a token gift to valued vendors. If you have a great vendor relationship don't assume that the vendor is the one who owes you thanks just because you purchase from him/her. Good, honest, and reliable vendors are hard to find and should be treated like gold or else you may find yourself in an inconvenient or expensive situation. As an example, we just installed a stone floor in our living room. The floor was done quickly, with minimal inconvenience, was reasonably priced, and looks incredible. I sent a thank you card to the contractor because as far as I am concerned he deserves thanks for his incredible work.

4. Friends - Holiday cards are standard but make sure to write a personalized note to each of your close friends to let them know how much you value them.

5. Service Providers (hairdresser, colorist, manicurist, pet groomer, housekeeper, nanny, gardener etc.) - give some kind of holiday tip/bonus to any service provider with whom you have an ongoing relationship. They work hard to make you (your pets, your home, your lawn, etc.) look good and the holidays are a great time to say thanks.

6. Employees - if you are the CEO/Executive of a large company it may not be feasible to give a gift or card to every employee. But you should do something nice for your secretary, personal assistant, and other supporting staff. A card with a personalized note along with a gift card, gift certificate, or small gift will ensure that those who support you know that their efforts do not go unnoticed. Simply walking by your secretary's desk and saying something like, "Happy Holidays, thanks for all of your hard work." is absolutely not enough. Any executive who thinks that is an appropriate token of appreciation can look forward to trying to find a new secretary in January.

7. Colleagues - make sure that your trusted co-workers and colleagues know that you appreciate them. You an also take the opportunity to reach out to any difficult co-workers or "gate keepers" to let them know that you would like to build stronger relationships with them. The holidays present a ready-made excuse to reach out to others so why not make sure that you set the stage for a collaborative new year with all of your co-workers? Cards, homemade cookies, or just inviting a co-worker to lunch during the holidays are ways to build new or solidify old relationships.

8. New acquaintances - send cards to new business acquaintances whom you have recently met and write a note to let them know that you look forward to working with them/getting to know them in the new year. Make sure you include some kind of personalize note...simply signing a card isn't enough.

9. Your Boss - Why not give your boss a handwritten note/card to thank him or her for any special support that he or she gave you this past year? Being a manager can be a lonely job in which you may never be sure if you are doing a good job. If you like your boss and are appreciative of his or her efforts now is a great time to say so. No matter how appreciative you are though, expensive gifts to your boss aren't appropriate and may make him or her uncomfortable. A heartfelt note will mean a lot to any manager.

10. Family - gifts are great but time spent with family is the ultimate way to say "thank you and I love you" during the holidays. Workaholics need to remember that no matter how tempting it is to take your Blackberry with you on vacation the quality time you spend with your family during the holidays will yield bigger dividends in your life than your co-workers will.

If you are one of the many people who has a hard time crafting a good thank you note when you need to please click here to download my free Thank You Note Book on the Ultimate Resumes website.