I wondered what to write about for this very special day in February in leap year! And after doing an interview on happiness with a friend for her online course, I knew instantly that I wanted to – talk about some of the many ways that we can express gratitude and appreciation through “Thank You’s.” It’s a way to increase your positivity ratio and feel like a million!
What can you do for your customers?
How about this? Add two more expressions of sincere gratitude to every interaction, in person or on the phone. “Thank you for calling, thank you for waiting, thank you for holding, thank you for listening to our specials, thank you for doing business with us, thank you for being our customer, we appreciate your business, we appreciate you, we appreciate your stopping in today, we appreciate your feedback, we appreciate your patronage.” Just two – easy peasy!
Just think of how those two little expressions of gratitude multiplied by the number of interactions you have every day will add up.
Make sure all your internet correspondence does the same.
Send thank you notes and postcards.
Get a signature thank you gift that you send after a purchase.
Wrap their purchase in tissue paper that says “Thank You.”
Make sure their invoice says “Thank You.”
Make sure the “We appreciate your business” attitude comes across in every interaction – that means getting the staff together to have a conversation about what that attitude is and how to display it.
While you are at it – check your “Welcome” messages and processes as well – if you are still making it hard to do business with you, you’re sure to lose in this economy.
What can you do for your Employees?
Needless to say – but I’ll say it anyway – how people feel about their work, and their boss, affect how well they treat their customers. So my first suggestion is to find people doing things right. And when you do that, be specific in praising them, and let them know how the work they do affects the bottom line and the good relationships with the customers.
Say “Thank You” often to employees as well. So many people – and company cultures – feel that “good work is what I am paying you for” and so neglect an employee’s real human need for praise and recognition. I help people understand that whether they need praise and recognition (and many entrepreneurs don’t seem to need to much external praise) is not the issue.
People – of all ages – blossom when we praise them for doing a good job, and we tell them specifically what about their behavior made it praise worthy.
Open and close meetings with gratitude and appreciation. Ask people to talk about something for which they are grateful when you start a meeting. When the meeting is just about over, go around the room and ask each to express appreciation about some detail of the meeting. It puts everyone on the same wavelength – and it’s a good one.
Get a gratitude journal (you’ve heard me recommend this many times before – now it the time to do it.)
Put it in the center of the room and ask people to frequently write down things for which they are grateful – the customer that made them laugh, the muffins someone brought into work, a co-worker who helped them out of a bind. The attitude of gratitude will spread good feelings almost as well as chocolate.
My customers often put a big gratitude jar in the middle of the team table and fill it with colorful slips of paper with their “gratitudes” on them. Every time they sit down for a meeting they add more and over time it acts as a potent symbol of the fact that gratitude is a value.
Get your crowd together and brainstorm what you’ll do to make the customers and the co-workers feel more positive emotion today. Spread the word – it’s easy to do – and it costs practically nothing!
And just for fun here are some wonderful videos on gratitude – enjoy!
365 Days of Gratitude – Brian Doyle
The Power of Gratitude – Robert Emmons
An Experiment in Gratitude – An experiment in the Science of Happiness – Fun and informative too!
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Have a grateful week,
JoAnna
Happiness is a KPI – and I can help you measure it! If you’d like to take a look at the Happiness Index you can find it HERE Check your level of happiness at work and then CALL ME – 561-279-0027 and I can tell you all about it!
