Expressing Gratitude Will Help Your Business Thrive

The end of the year is fast approaching, and if you reflect briefly over the past 12 months, you will find that many people have helped you and your business achieve goals, complete projects, execute transactions, perform thousands of tasks, learn lessons and helped your business maintain its strong reputation.

December is the month we send out good wishes to clients, associates, suppliers and employees to enjoy Christmas and the holiday period. So with that in mind, how could you express gratitude to all the people that have helped your business?

Employees 

We all get frustrated with some employees throughout the year, but think about it, how could your business operate without them? You couldn’t.

They arrive each day to perform their role to the best of their ability. They deal with happy and sometimes frustrating customers, perform admin duties, design gardens, build a project, manage other team members and up-sell services and help your business meet the needs of its clients.

An annual Christmas party is an expected event to say thank you to the entire team. But what about telling each employee via card or verbally how grateful you are for the role they have performed this year. You will put a big smile on each employees face and make them feel appreciated. According to thousands of workers surveyed, 75% agreed that motivation and company morale would improve if managers simply thanked workers in real-time for a job well done.

I think this is something we can lose sight of because we are all so busy or perhaps don’t realise how important verbal/written appreciation of our employees really is.

Clients 

I think we are all much better at expressing gratitude to our clients than we are to employees because we habitually say thanks when a customer purchases from us. But how do you show your gratitude for your client’s decision to buy from your company? Obviously sending an email when a client buys from you is an easy yet standard form of giving thanks. But do you show appreciation in other ways?

What about an evening when you invite all past and current clients to an evening at your warehouse or office to say thanks and provide food and drinks? Another idea for landscapers would be to take some professional images of their client’s completed garden and email them to them with a message of appreciation.

Alliances 

The business owners that appreciate their alliances (professional business relationships), tend to receive more leads from them for obvious reasons. I know some business owners that regularly build their relationship with current alliances by visiting every 2 months and buying them coffee/sweets. Other buy them a ticket to their favorite sports event or gift they would appreciate every 6 months. Maybe you might send them work regularly as your way of reciprocating and showing you value their qualified leads.

So the point i am making is, find a way that you can genuinely express gratitude in ways you know they will value and your business relationships will continue to grow.

Business Partner

You may have a business partner, if that’s the case, when was the last time you said thanks for being my business partner and doing a great job? The people closest to us, can be taken for granted. After all, it is expected that each of you meet your responsibilities, but saying thanks will surprise them (especially if they are not used to it) and make them feel appreciated. And appreciation leads to a happier, more productive work environment.

In our busy lives, it’s easy to take people in our business (and personal lives) for granted, but just reminding ourselves to show or verbalise appreciation to our employees, alliances, suppliers, and clients more regularly will lift morale, productivity and build stronger relationships as our business continues to provide, progress and grow.