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The Power of Saying Thank You

One of the most powerful customer service (and sales) tools is a sincere "Thank you," yet so often we neglect to do this. Feeling appreciated is a motivational human emotion and it's an emotion we can trigger in customers and employees alike. In this article, customer service expert JoAnna Brandi gives advice on how to most effectively thank the people important to your success.

Saturday night I wasn't feeling too well. I had a little yoga mishap on Wednesday and pulled one of the larger muscles in my leg. Ouch. After three days of attempting "business as usual" without the use of a strong left leg I was beat. The chiropractor had told me only R&R over the weekend and here it was 4:30 and I was just getting started on the first "R."

After a nice rest and hot shower I felt up to making a healthful dinner. I'd made a stop at the store on the way home from my speaking engagement on Thursday (That was a scream - almost literally - and preserved forever on a video, oh my) so I had plenty of fresh veggies at the ready for me to sauté into a creation.

My kitchen counter overlooks the TV nook and so often I will turn on the TV while I chop and prepare. Saturday I hesitated - so much of the news I would likely encounter is bad these days and I didn't even want the temptation of browsing through the stations.

So I grabbed my laptop and typed in one of my favorite internet places - TED.com. There's always something stimulating, thought provoking and unusual there. I started with Dave Eggers and Once Upon a School. (When you have 24 minutes, it's a must-see). Wow!

Thrilled by my success in finding something so inspiring to watch, and now wanting something a little shorter in length, I came across "TED in 3 minutes" and a woman by the name of Laura Tice and her very timely message - the simple power of saying thank you.

She talks about giving genuine praise and she talks about asking for what you need - she challenges us to be honest about the praise we need to hear. Of course, her three minute speech set off sparks in my head as remembered my advice in my first book "Winning at Customer Retention, 101 Ways to Keep 'em Happy, Keep 'em Loyal and Keep 'em Coming Back" on saying thank you. This time in addition to thinking about ways we could thank our customers I thought of the many ways we can thank our employees.

So here are some of my thoughts on thank you's, gratitude and praise.

Customers - 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 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 (by the way we still have a few left - if they are not sold by the end of the week, they go to barter, we need the shelf space). See the sidbar for the link and coupon code.

Get a signature thank you gift that you send after a purchase.

Wrap their purchase in tissue paper that says "Thank You."

Make sure the 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.

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 often hear the youngest generation in the workplace (Gen Y) called the "Praise Generation." The people I hear it from aren't necessarily saying it as a positive reflection.

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. Every generation is raised differently and every generation shares societal and historical events.

Our latest generation of workers were raised by parents that are now considered the most protective parents in history. And they were raised in a time when highly structured activities were the norm from the time of toddlerhood ("Can Ashley have a playdate with Courtney week after next?") and praise was abundant for every activity (great job!, Great Job!, GREAT JOB!").

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 good.

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.

So I was grateful to find such stimulating and thought provoking films on the web. They kept my mind off the pain in my leg, they gave me much to think about that had nothing to do me, and they inspired me to share these thoughts with you.

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!

Have a grateful week,

JoAnna

JoAnna Brandi is Publisher of the Customer Care Coach® a weekly training program on mastering "The Art and Science of Exquisite Customer Care." She is the author of books such as "Winning at Customer Retention - 101 Ways to Keep 'em Happy, Keep 'em Loyal, and Keep 'em Coming Back" and "Building Customer Loyalty - 21 Essential Elements in ACTION."

A Speaker and consultant, she is publisher of the bi-weekly Customer Care Tips Bulletin. To receive her free bi-weekly tips bulletin, sign up at www.returnonhappiness.com. You can also reach JoAnna at 561-279-0027 or e-mail joanna@customercarecoach.com.