How Handwritten Thank You Notes Generated A 15x ROI For &Collar

In today’s digital world, customers are constantly being sold to and valued for what they can spend rather than who they are. Even when brands do say thank you, it usually comes with strings attached, a discount code, an upsell, something that makes the gesture feel less like appreciation and more like another tactic.

&Collar founder Ben Perkins recognized this and decided to do something about it. Instead of sending their VIP customers another email promotion, he sent a handwritten note that simply said thank you. No offer, no call to action, no incentive of any kind, just genuine appreciation from the founder himself. That decision generated over $200,000 in incremental revenue at a 15x return on investment.

In this article, we’ll break down how &Collar’s handwritten thank you note strategy worked, why sending a note that asks for nothing can outperform almost any promotional campaign, and how your DTC brand can apply the same handwritten direct mail approach with Scribe. 

Ready to start your own handwritten direct mail campaign? Contact Scribe today to get started and get 200 letters free.

&Collar’s Unique Thank You Note Strategy

While most retention strategies focus on creating another reason for customers to buy, &Collar discovered that sometimes the most effective thing you can do is remind customers why they loved your brand in the first place. 

About 30 days after a purchase, &Collar sent handwritten thank-you cards to thousands of its VIP customers. Each card included a simple, heartfelt message from founder Ben Perkins, along with his personal email address. Instead of treating the note as another marketing touchpoint, &Collar used it as an opportunity to show appreciation with no strings attached. In doing so, they communicated to customers that they were valued as a person, not just a customer. 

When people feel that kind of genuine gratitude, they naturally want to engage, not because they are being sold to, but because the gesture feels real. And while that idea sounds intuitive, the results were far more significant than most brands would expect from something as simple as a thank you note. 

&Collar’s Handwritten Thank You Note Campaign Results

The &Collar handwritten direct mail program generated over $200,000 in incremental revenue at a 15x return on investment, and because there was no promotional discount involved, every dollar of that return came in at full margin. It worked so well, they implemented it at asister brand, Flight, and saw an 8x return on the same campaign.

What makes those numbers especially striking is how they were achieved. No urgency, no offer, no incentive of any kind, just a handwritten note that made customers feel genuinely valued and a revenue result that most promotional campaigns would struggle to match.

The obvious question, then, is why. Why would a simple thank you note outperform campaigns built around discounts, urgency, and promotions? 

Why Handwritten Thank You Letters Worked So Well

The research backs up what &Collar experienced firsthand. A peer-reviewed field experiment published in the Journal of Interactive Marketing found that customers who received handwritten notes spent roughly twice as much on future purchases compared to customers who received a printed note or no note at all. 

But perhaps the most important finding was that adding a discount or promotional offer alongside the note canceled out the effect entirely.

The reason comes down to sincerity. A handwritten note feels personal and genuine, and that sincerity is what creates an emotional connection strong enough to drive loyalty. The moment you attach an incentive, customers start to wonder whether the note was really about appreciation or just another way to get them to open their wallet, and that doubt undermines the whole thing. 

The insight behind &Collar’s program is straightforward. Your best customers already love what you do. They do not need a discount to come back. What they need is to feel genuinely appreciated, and a handwritten note is one of the most powerful ways to show them that.

How To Apply This Handwritten Direct Mail Strategy To Your Brand

The challenge isn’t understanding the value of handwritten notes. Most founders immediately get it. The challenge is making the strategy operational.

Writing, addressing, and mailing handwritten notes manually takes significant time, and traditional handwritten mail services can be expensive enough to feel out of reach for a lot of companies. That is where Scribe’s direct mail automation changes things.

Scribe allows DTC brands to automate handwritten outreach while maintaining the authentic feel of real handwritten mail. Using real pens, robotic arms, natural handwriting variation, handwritten envelopes, and local postmarks, Scribe creates handwritten notes that genuinely look and feel human. Through CRM integrations, brands can automatically identify VIP customers and trigger handwritten thank-you notes at exactly the right moment, without any manual work required from their team.

There are no batch minimums, so you can start small and scale as you see results, and purchasing letters in bulk means you can access competitive pricing without committing to large send volumes upfront. It is a way of showing your best customers how much you value them that is affordable and scalable at your own pace.

Start Your Handwritten Direct Mail Campaign With Scribe Today

Most retention marketing is built around generating more revenue. Whether it’s an automated email flow, a limited-time discount, or a personalized promotion, the message is often center on buying again. That’s what made &Collar’s approach so refreshing. The note was designed to make customers feel appreciated and, in doing so, strengthened the relationship in a way most promotions never could.

&Collar’s success is a reminder that customer loyalty isn’t always built through bigger offers or more sophisticated campaigns but through simple moments that make people feel seen and valued.

If you’re looking for a way to show appreciation to your best customers, handwritten thank you notes are a proven place to start. As &Collar demonstrated, a simple gesture of gratitude can strengthen customer relationships, increase repeat purchases, and generate measurable ROI.

Ready to see the impact for yourself? Launch your first handwritten thank-you note campaign with Scribe and receive 200 free letters. Contact Scribe today to learn more.