How to Write a Professional ‘Thank You’ Email

Writing a professional ‘thank you’ email is a great way to show your appreciation and build beneficial business relationships. To write a formal ‘thank you’ email, you need to choose an appropriate subject line, start with a professional salutation, include details about what you are thankful for, include your contact information, and end your message with a formal email signature. 

If you want to write the perfect ‘thank you’ email, this guide will help. It contains samples, tips, and information to include and exclude from your communication. 

1. Choose the Correct Subject Line

Everyone is busy, and most office workers receive over 100 emails per day. So, it is essential to let people know why you are emailing. Without an eye-catching subject, your recipient may overlook your message. 

When sending a ‘thank you’ email, you can use a subject line like: 

• Thank You 
• Thank You for Your Time
• Interview Follow-Up - Your Name

2. Start with a Salutation

To start your formal email, you need to include a salutation. The salutation tells to whom you are addressing the communication. The greeting and recipients may differ. 

For example, you may write a ‘thank you’ email to a client and blind copy your sales team or business partner. By properly addressing the email, all recipients will know who you are writing. 

Appropriate salutations include: 

• Dear Mr. Smith,
• Good Morning Ms. Davis,
• Good Afternoon Mr. Johnson,
• Hello Sales Team,
• Hello Customer Relationship Department,

3. Express Your Thanks

Immediately after your greeting, you should tell the recipient thank you. Due to the number of emails most people receive daily, it is necessary for efficient workers in busy offices to skim digital communications. 

Reading every word of each email is just not realistic in some roles. So, it is essential to let the reader know the purpose of your email within the first few lines. Great ways to start your ‘thank you’ email include:

• Thank you so much for meeting with me the other day to discuss your account. Speaking with you gave me a better idea of your needs, and I met with my team this morning to discuss solutions that will fit your needs. 

• I want to express my sincere appreciation for introducing me to your friend, Jane James, last Thursday. Our meeting was very productive, and I look forward to providing her excellent service. To show my appreciation, I would like to buy you lunch next week if you are available. 

• You were so helpful last week when I was out of the office. I appreciate you taking such great care of my clients while I was on vacation. Knowing that you were handling things in my absence helped me to enjoy my time off and made handling customer concerns today when I got back to work much smoother. 

4. Include Details 

You want to include specific details about what you are thankful for in your message. Whether you are writing to a co-worker, manager, vendor, or client, your note will be more sincere if you tell the person exactly why you are thanking them. 

However, you do not want to include too much information. It is best to be direct. Suppose you write a ‘thank you’ email for a new client introduction. In that case, you need to let the person know that you appreciate the introduction but avoid giving personal information about your new client. 

5. Wrap Up Your Message

Conclude your message by recapping any critical information. When sending a ‘thank you’ email, you may want to conclude by thanking the person again or telling them that you hope they have a good week. Either is an excellent way to end formal email communication expressing gratitude. 

6. End with a Professional Email Signature

End your email by signing off. Traditionally, people use 'sincerely' to end emails. However, you can use others, like:

• Best wishes,
• Yours truly,
• Thank you again,
• With appreciation,

Many people include a signoff in their email signature. If you have, you do not have to worry about adding one.

A professional email signature is a perfect way to ensure each email recipient has your contact information. You can also include any necessary information relating to your business or even a link to a client satisfaction survey. 

7. Use Mail Receipts 

To ensure that the recipient receives your email, you can use mail receipts or a plugin that tells you when your email is delivered, opened, or deleted. These tools give you better insight into who is reading your emails and prevent you from having to confirm that a contact received your message. 

When Should You Send a ‘Thank You’ Email?

It is always a good idea to thank clients for referring your business or being a repeat customer. However, there are other reasons to send a 'thank you' email. 

Here are a few of the many reasons you may need to write a ‘thank you’ message to an interviewer, colleague, vendor, or client:

• A client refers to your new business.
• A colleague teaches you something. 
• You interview for a new job. 
• You are nominated for an award. 
• A co-worker serves your customers while you are on vacation. 
• A client sends a message recognizing you. 
• A partner helps you with a project. 
• Someone on your team goes above and beyond. 
• A potential client sits down with you to discuss your products or services. 
• Someone recognizes your company. 

Final Advice for Writing the Perfect ‘Thank You’ Email

Writing ‘thank you’ emails can seem daunting if you are not used to sending them. However, after a bit of practice, they will become much easier to write, and these simple emails can go a long way in helping you build positive business relationships. 

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