“Appreciation is a wonderful thing. It makes what is excellent in others belong to us as well.” Voltaire
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We all like to be appreciated and thanked for the work we do or when we help someone out.
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If you want to develop strong and sustainable business relationships, showing courtesy is not a luxury but a necessity.
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There’s nothing worse than receiving an email that goes straight to the point with no pleasantries at the beginning.
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This is especially so when the sender needs your help or needs some information from you. Are you likely to want to help them? I know what I’d want to do….
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In some cultures, sending abrupt emails is not seen as impolite.
Their thinking is: “I need something done or some information. It’s their job to give me the help or information, so why should I have to be nice about it? Plus I am far too busy with all these please and thank you’s”
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No one is that busy that they cannot start or end an email with a note of appreciation.
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I can almost feel you nodding in agreement with me.
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Okay, so we’re agreed on this. What next?
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“Variety is the Spice of Life”
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As the saying goes, variety is the spice of life, so spicing up your emails with different ways of saying “thank you” would make your emails not only interesting to read but also to write. Plus depending on the context, there is often a different way of writing “thank you”.
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In this post, I want to explore some of these contexts and give you a choice of expressions you could use.
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#1: Thank you for contacting me.
Whenever I receive an enquiry from a reader I always thank them for contacting me. They’ve taken time to write to me and for that I think it’s good manners to thank them. You can also say “Thank you for your email”.
#2: Thank you for your prompt reply
This one is a good expression to show your appreciation of good service and to let them know it.
#3: Thank you for your enquiry
If your business depends on customer interaction, thanking a customer who’s asked you a question gives an excellent impression of your willingness to interact with them.
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#4: Thank you for sending me the information/ for the information
There’s absolutely no harm in thanking someone who gives you what you asked for or what is helpful to you. It’s simple courtesy.
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#5: Thank you for all your assistance (formal)/help (informal or neutral)
Likewise, if someone has helped you out with a problem, thank them for it. You never know you might need their help again in the future.
#6: Thank you for bringing the matter to my attention (formal)
The other day I sent an email to my readers with a link but forgot to attach it. A fellow EWATer sent me an email telling me there was no link. I was very thankful to him because had I not been told, I would have wondered all day why no one was clicking on the link!
I replied to him with the more informal “Thank you for letting me know about the broken link”.
In a more formal context, you would use expression #6, or this: “Thank you for alerting us/me to the issue.”
A less formal expression you could use is: “Thank you for raising the problem with me/us.”
#7: Thank you for raising your concerns with me/us
Once again, if your business relies on good customer relations, you’re probably going to encourage customers to share their concerns or doubts about your service or product with you.
In that case, thanking them is important and will be appreciated.
#8: Thank you in advance for your cooperation. (formal)
You’ve asked somebody to do something for you or to help you with something. You don’t know whether they’ll agree to do it but thanking them in advance may just give them the motivation they need to help you.
#9: Thank you for your understanding.
Mmm, this is the thank you when you’ve had to cancel a meeting, deliver unfortunate news, or explain why a project has been delayed.
#10: Thank you for everything you’ve done.
Someone’s really helped you out and you’re truly appreciative of what they’ve done. Letting them know it will make you and them feel good.
#11: Thank you for your attention in this matter.
You’ve written to the Customer Service Department about an issue or problem and you want them to deal with or solve it quickly. So there’s no harm in thanking them for giving attention to your problem. Notice that it’s a formal thank you.
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Over to you
In your Business English notebook which you have with you at all times (!), make a note of the contexts you deal with most frequently and record the ‘thank you’ expressions you’d like to use in your emails.
And when you receive emails, observe the “thank you” expressions you receive and their context. Then write down the ones you like and incorporate them in your future emails.
Which ‘thank you’ expressions do you use and like? Share them with me in the comments box.
