I’m putting the final touches on client holiday gifts this evening. Tomorrow, I’ll drive to the post office, pay the postage and gleefully drop each package into the postal mail-shoot abyss.

Client holiday gift planning and buying is a carefully crafted process for me. I take my gift-giving quite seriously because I buy, box, wrap and ship the gifts myself. I know that ordering online would be so much easier but I just find it to be so impersonal for what I want to accomplish this time of year. I have at least fifteen people on my gift list whose business relationships have meant so much to me. Handling the entire process myself is really a big portion of my gift to my clients.

It took a few weeks to decide what I would purchase this year. The card selection took me even long(er) [to determine] and then I spent several days writing a little note in each card which was meaningful and not the typical, customary and trite ‘Happy Holidays’.

I derive a great sense of satisfaction in handwriting each card because I know that it is a special treat to be the recipient of a surprise package with an enclosed handwritten ‘something’ from the mailman.

The element of holiday surprise and curiosity was better experienced in day’s past before emails flowed in with expectation and voice mails prepared us with canned responses before making the return call.

Opening an unexpected package or a card requires undistracted attention so it is a nice change from opening electronic communication which is usually part of multi-tasking.

I really do appreciate my clients’ business. I want them to know this. So I step back from the computer and do things the old fashioned way via the postal service, which is still the most personal way to communicate without delivering the card and gift myself.

As a virtual assistant I have been blessed with thoughtful and unexpected client gifts. One client sent me a $50 gift certificate and another gifted a lovely soap set. I never forgot their kindness even though they are no longer clients.

It is not really the gift itself that is so important; rather it is the thought behind the effort. The kind words written in the card mean the most to me.

Very few people take the time to say ‘thank you’ anymore.

I do not expect holiday gifts from my clients as my best gift has already been received this year!

In 2010, every singe client paid me on time and in full. That was the best gift ever, which saved me countless hours of collections and aggravation.

I plan for buying gifts for clients but I have never thought about gifts from clients to virtual assistants. I thought it would be a fun exercise to reverse the gift giving process.

VAs, email me if you have any other ideas. I’ll be glad to keep the list going throughout the year.

Gifts which cost only client time

• An audio testimonial
• A video testimonial
• A LinkedIn testimonial
• Offer to link your VAs site to your own
• Offer to pay on-time for one year and keep that promise
• Offer to refer 5 colleagues to the virtual assistant

Gifts priced at whatever a client wants

• A gift certificate for a massage
• A gift certificate to Amazon.com
• Desk accessories
• Gift certificate to Staples, Best Buy or Office Depot
• Credit for iStockPhoto or the VA’s favorite photo site
• Make a donation to your VA’s favorite charity
• Offer to purchase RoboForm or some program which could save your VA time
• A subscription to Elegant Themes for one year to access a wide variety of blog themes
• A Blackberry or an iPhone
• Memory sticks and/or Flash Drives

I am often asked for my opinion about how to do something. It is the nature of the virtual assistant business. Having worked on a variety of projects, people believe I can either answer a question or at least give them the tools to find the answer themselves. I’m OK with that. I like to help.

I opened up my email Inbox today and found seven emails from people looking for an answer about how to do something. It took about an hour to get through all the responses and I was pleased to have answers to everything asked.

Of the seven, two responded with a ‘Thank You’.

Was I looking for a ‘Thank You’? Well, yes. It would have been nice. It would have been a validation of my efforts. Given the low response to the favor, a ‘Thank You’ from anyone actually would have helped that person to stand out from the crowd. This small gesture might have helped them receive future favors from me on a priority-status. That’s not to say I will dismiss their future requests but I might put the favor on a ‘low flame’ given the limited hours in my workday.

So why did only two people take the time to type two simple words and hit the ‘send’ button?

5 Reasons Why People Do Not Send a Thank You

1) They simply do not have good manners.
2) They take my good will for granted. They got what they wanted and as far as they are concerned, the query has ended.
3) They can not find the time to thank me.
4) They do not realize the value in a Thank You.
5) They forgot or they do not care, or both.

5 Reasons Why People Should Say Thank You

1) A Thank You shows appreciation for the time I took to handle their question. Very simple and very obvious.
2) They have good manners and their mother taught them well. A Thank You is automatic; without a second thought as it should be.
3) A Thank You is remembered by people who, in turn, are more likely to help them out in the future.
4) Finalizing an email with a note of thanks is indeed the proper way to actually end an email. It is a way to leave an appropriate ending to a piece of correspondence. A favor which is not ‘settled’ with a Thank You is the same as telling a story and not having a final solution or an ending to the tale.
5) The absence of a Thank You can mean that the efforts were not appreciated. You may have appreciated the favor but no one will ever know.

However, the bonus reason why people should should say ‘Thank You’ (drum roll, please!) is that performing this simple gesture is nearly FREE to accomplish which could reap benefits that might become profitable in the future.

The next time I open my Inbox and find several inquiries, I will respond to them but tucked in the back of my head will be the names of those who took a moment to appreciate my time. I might not spend an inordinate amount of time answering their questions because my time is valuable. I might steer them in the direction where they can find their own answers or I might wait to respond and do so only when my work hours are light.

Those who thanked me though, may get a faster response.

It’s human nature.