After a deal closes, write the client four short things. Thank the person by name. Mention one thing you remember from the sales process. Say what happens next and who their contact is. Sign your own name. Do not sell anything. Send a short email the same day, and a handwritten card that week. Sixteen notes to copy are below, sorted by situation.
This guide covers one moment: the day the deal is marked won. It fits any business that sells to clients, from an agency to a packaging supplier. For every other stage of a sale, see our 24 handwritten notes for sales.
What should a thank-you note say after a deal closes?
Four things, in this order. Thank the person, not the company. Name one thing from the sales process that only the two of you would know. Say what happens next and who will look after them. Then sign with the name they know you by. It fits in five or six lines. If a line could go to any client, rewrite it.
- Thank the person. "Thank you for choosing us" thanks a logo. "Thank you for backing us in that budget meeting" thanks someone who took a risk.
- Name one thing from the sale. The site visit in the rain. The question their finance lead asked twice. The clause you both rewrote on a Friday evening. It proves the note was written after this deal, not copied from the last one.
- Say what happens next, and who. One name and one day is enough: "Maria runs your kickoff on Tuesday."
- Sign your own name. A first name, by hand, from someone they have met.
The third part does the most work. Signing is when a buyer's doubts begin. The selling stops, the paperwork starts, and they wonder if they chose well. Capterra surveyed 3,484 people who buy software for their companies in nine countries. Sixty per cent regretted a purchase made in the past 12 to 18 months (Capterra). That figure is for software, but the worry follows any big purchase. A name and a date answer it before the client asks.
If the note feels like too much, it is not. In four experiments by Amit Kumar and Nicholas Epley, people who wrote letters of thanks underestimated how surprised and how pleased the readers would be. They also expected the readers to feel more awkward than they did (University of Chicago News).
Why should the note not sell anything?
Because an offer turns a thank-you into an advert, and the thank-you works better alone. In one field experiment, a plain thank-you to a restaurant group's happiest customers was followed by 51 per cent more visits over the next year. In a second, scenario test by the same team, adding a gift card or a perk made people feel no more grateful than the thank-you did.
That is from a Marketing Science Institute working paper by Clay Voorhees and four colleagues. The first study followed 388 guests who had given top marks in a survey. Some got a thank-you email from the restaurant group's president. The rest got nothing. The researchers then counted visits for 12 months (Marketing Science Institute). These were diners, not business clients, and it was an email, not a card. The lesson for a closed deal is narrow: say thank you, and stop.
So leave these off the note:
- A discount on the next order.
- A request for a referral, a review or a case study.
- A calendar link for an "account review".
- A list of your other services.
Each has its place. That place is a later email.
Who should sign it: the rep, the account manager or the founder?
The person the client dealt with. That is usually the rep who ran the deal. If the client is moving to an account manager, the rep signs and names the account manager in the note. A founder signs when the company is small, when the deal is a big one for you, or when the founder was in the room. Never sign as "the team" with no names.
| Who signs | When it fits | What to add |
|---|---|---|
| The rep | Most deals. The client knows this person best. | The name of whoever takes over, and the day they will call. |
| The account manager | The rep's work ended at the signature, and the client has already met the account manager. | One line from the handover: "Sam told me about your launch date." |
| The founder | A small company, a first big client, or a deal the founder helped win. | A direct way to reach you. If you offer it, mean it. |
| Several people | A deal won by a team the client met. | Each name, signed by each person. |
Then choose who gets it. Forrester's 2024 research on business buying found that, on average, 13 people at a company are involved in a buying decision, and 89 per cent of purchases involve two or more departments (Forrester). You cannot write to 13 people. Write to the one who carried the deal inside their own company. If someone else signed the contract, send that person a second, shorter card.
For the last two lines of the card, "With thanks," or "With gratitude," suits most clients. Our guide on how to sign off a thank-you card has closings for every kind of relationship.
When should you send it?
Email the same day the deal is marked won, so the client has the next step and the contact's name in writing. Write the card that week and mail it. It arrives after the first rush, while the client is still getting set up. That is when they most need to hear they chose well. Do not let the first invoice get there before the thank-you.
A short delay does no harm. It may help. In the second study in the Marketing Science Institute paper, people read about a meal out and a thank-you that came either at once or two days later. The thank-you two days later left them feeling more grateful than no reply at all. The instant one did not, and the authors suggest an instant reply looks automatic (Marketing Science Institute). A card can never be instant. Here that is a strength.
If you missed the week, send it anyway. A late card that says "I should have written sooner" still beats silence.
Is a card better than an email after a closed deal?
Send both, because they do different jobs. The email is fast and carries the facts: dates, names, links. The card carries the thanks, and it stays in sight after the inbox has moved on. If you can only send one, send the email the same day. If you want to be remembered in month two, send the card as well.
| What to compare | Handwritten card | |
|---|---|---|
| Arrives | The same day | Days later, by mail |
| Best for | The next step, the contact, the documents | The thank-you and the one detail |
| Where it ends up | In a folder with the rest | On a desk or a shelf, if they keep it |
The inbox is crowded. Microsoft's count across its own Microsoft 365 users puts the average worker at 117 emails a day, most of them skimmed in under 60 seconds (Microsoft). Your thank-you email is one of the 117.
Mail is slower and stays longer. JICMAIL, which tracks what a panel of people in the UK do with their mail, puts the lifespan of a piece of business mail at 8.7 days, with 4.9 interactions in that time (JICMAIL). That is ordinary business mail in the UK, not handwritten cards on office desks. It still shows the difference: an email gets a minute at most, and paper stays around for a week. More figures are in our handwritten mail statistics.
Notes to copy, by situation
Each note below has the four parts. Change the names and the detail, and keep the shape.
A first deal with a new client
Dear Hannah, thank you for choosing us for the Fenwick rebrand. I keep thinking about the shoebox of old labels you brought to the first meeting. Jon leads your kickoff on Monday the 14th. I am glad we get to do this. Clara
Hi Dev, the paperwork came through this morning. Thank you for trusting a new supplier with your busiest season. Your first delivery leaves on Thursday, and Amara is your contact from here. My number stays the same. Pete
A renewal
A signed renewal is a closed deal too. Thank them as if they had a choice, because they did.
Dear Mr Okafor, thank you for signing with us for two more years. When we started, your team closed each month on paper. Nothing changes on your side. Lena is still your contact, and she still picks up on the first ring. Tobias
Hi Carmen, the renewal came in today. Thank you. You pushed us hard on reporting this year, and you were right to. The new monthly report starts in March. I will send the first one myself. Wes
For cards at go-live, on an anniversary and in the weeks before a renewal, see our thank-you notes for software customers.
An expansion
Dear Yusuf, thank you for adding the Leeds and Cardiff sites. In year one you said you would only grow with us if the first site ran quietly. I am glad it did. Bea will set up both new sites this month. Hugo
Hi Marta, thank you for bringing the design team on as well. It started with your one-page memo, and now the whole floor is using it. Dan will train the new group on the 3rd. Nell
A deal that took a long time
Long deals are normal. Forrester found that 86 per cent of business purchases stall during the buying process (Forrester). Someone kept yours alive inside their own building. Say so.
Dear Ines, three budget rounds and one change of finance director. Thank you for never letting it drop. You did the hard part, and you did it where we could not see. Sunil starts your rollout on the 9th. I will be at the first session. Marco
Hi Callum, we got there. Thank you for answering every security question twice, once for us and once for your own IT team. Rosa is your account manager from today. She has read the whole thread. Ade
A deal won from a competitor
Do not name the other company, and do not cheer. The client has just ended a relationship. Thank them for the effort of moving.
Dear Joanne, thank you for making the switch. Changing suppliers after many years is not a small thing, and you told us plainly what had to be better. We wrote it down. Felix will run the changeover, starting with the March orders. Irene
Hi Luca, thank you for giving us the chance. I know the old system was familiar and ours is not yet. Kim will sit with your team for the first two weeks so nobody is left guessing. Call me if anything slips. Owen
A small deal
A small deal gets the same note. Clients can tell when the thanks is sized to the invoice.
Dear Pia, thank you for booking us for the reception room. No job is small to the person who walks into it every morning. Sol will be there at eight on Friday, and he will leave it tidy. Greta
Hi Andre, thank you for starting with the trial plan. You said you wanted to see us earn the rest, which is fair. Your contact is Min, and her first check-in is on the 20th. Ruthie
A referral that closed
Two cards: one to the new client, one to the person who sent them. Referred clients are worth looking after. A study of about 10,000 customers of a German bank found that referred customers were about 18 per cent more likely to stay than the others, and worth 16 to 25 per cent more over time (Knowledge at Wharton).
Dear Sanna, thank you for coming to us on Bill Hartley's word. He set a high bar when he described you, and the first meeting cleared it. Your files are with Noor, who will call you on Wednesday. Elias
Dear Bill, Sanna signed with us this week. Thank you for sending her our way. Your name was on that introduction, and we will look after it. Elias
If your work is confidential, as it is for accountants and lawyers, do not tell the referrer whether the person became a client. Our referral thank-you notes for accountants and lawyers show how to thank without telling.
A deal closed by a team
Dear Mrs Abara, thank you from all four of us. You met Priyanka on pricing, Otto on the build and Jess on support before you signed, and each came back saying the same thing: she asks good questions. Jess is your first call from now on. Sam, Priyanka, Otto and Jess
Hi Kofi, thank you, and please thank your team. It took a crowd on your side and a crowd on ours, and somehow every call started on time. Lior is your project lead. The rest of us are one message away. Mona, Lior, Ben and Dita
Only put a name on the card if the client has met that person.
How do you make the note routine?
Tie the card to the moment a deal is marked won in your CRM, so no client is missed when a rep is busy. Save one card that fits every new client, and let the won deal send it with the client's first name. Keep writing your own for the deals where you have a detail worth telling. The routine is the floor, not the ceiling.
Here is how that works with MailMyCard, which writes each card with a real pen and mails it. HubSpot, Pipedrive, Zoho CRM, Attio, monday.com, Keap and Close each connect with one click. In most of them, a deal moving to won sends your saved card to that deal's contact. Keap uses a tag on the contact. In HubSpot the card is a step in a workflow, and our guide to handwritten cards from HubSpot walks through the setup.
One limit to know first. The saved card says the same words to every client, with only the first name filled in. It can do parts one, three and four of the note. It cannot mention the site visit in the rain. So write it so that every line is true of every deal:
Dear [Name], thank you for choosing us. Your account manager will call this week to plan the first steps. I am glad you are here. Farid
Then set a rule for the deals that deserve more:
- Save the every-client card and connect the CRM, so each won deal sends one.
- Pick the deals that get a personal card. First deals, referrals, wins from a competitor, and anything above a size you choose.
- Give those to a person. The rep writes the four parts from the call notes the day the deal closes.
MailMyCard is in private preview, so new accounts need an invite. Terms for teams are on our For business page, and the API and webhooks are in the developer docs. For thank-yous beyond the closed deal, see our wider guide to thank-you notes for business.
Sources
- Voorhees, C. M., Fombelle, P. W., Allen, A., Bone, S. A. and Aach, J. (2014), "Managing Post-Purchase Moments of Truth: Leveraging Customer Feedback to Increase Loyalty", Marketing Science Institute Working Paper 14-115: full report (PDF)
- Capterra, 2024 Tech Trends Report: Software Purchase Regret (survey of 3,484 software buyers in nine countries, July 2023): capterra.com
- Forrester, press release on The State Of Business Buying, 2024 (4 December 2024): forrester.com
- Microsoft, Work Trend Index special report, "Breaking down the infinite workday" (June 2025): microsoft.com
- JICMAIL, Q2 2025 results (UK mail measurement, Business Mail figures): jicmail.org.uk
- Schmitt, P., Skiera, B. and Van den Bulte, C. (2011), "Referral Programs and Customer Value", Journal of Marketing, as reported by Knowledge at Wharton
- Kumar, A. and Epley, N. (2018), "Undervaluing Gratitude", Psychological Science, via University of Chicago News
