"Merci beaucoup" and "Domo arigato gozaimasu" are so expressive that without understanding French or Japanese you gauge the politeness and the intended respect and genuine thanks they imply.

Saying "thank-you" is understated, possibly undervalued and a dying art. I was raised to always write a thank-you note to anyone who presented me/sent me a gift and my parents would expect this done immediately! However, as a parent, I am struggling to impart this tradition - something I need to work on.

So, here I am writing cards and selecting appropriate gifts to send and deliver to clients and connections and I'm pondering the right words & actions! I have found myself reflecting on how much gratitude I have for these wonderful relationships - they are my business. Does a hand selected card and bottle of gorgeous bubbles cut it?

How do you say thank-you and really mean it? Do you go into automatic pilot or do you give it some deep thought?

Here's my Top Five approaches to saying "Thanks":

1. Do it in person - with a card & a gift and tell them that you really thought about what to give them (don't say "here's a small token of my appreciation".) to represent your gratitude.

2. Call them or better still use common technology to see eye-balls and have a conversation (and then follow up with a card & gift.)

3. Send them a hand-written card and gift - be mindful if it's a team and if it's to be shared. Take time to think of the words and make sure you can read your writing.

4. Send a voice message - prepare it (and rehearse it) using technology at our disposal and attach to an email with a note.

5. OK, it you have to, send an email - but personalize it. Highlight something specific that has occurred during the year.

Thanks for reading and sharing. I hope that we all take more care this year when we say "I wanted to especially thank you - I appreciate the connection we have and I selected this bottle of bubbles for you to share with .... !"