A little thing.
It’s such a little thing, a thank you.
I believe that good people make good marketers, and I want to be better… So I have to work on being a better human. It’s no cakewalk, I’m flawed, no doubt, so I have a few rules I try to obey:
Don’t say anything behind someone’s back that you wouldn’t say to their face.
Try to look at things from other perspectives… there’s probably a reason that person is doing whatever it is they’re doing that makes sense… to them at least.
Say ‘Thank You’ and mean it.
Number 3 is what we’re here to discuss today. I’m trying to consciously thank people - at least once - every day. It doesn’t matter who they are or how small the thing they’ve done, I’m taking a moment to say ‘Thank you’ and mean it. Here’s why:
It feels good to thank someone genuinely for their effort. There’s a reciprocal high that comes from the expression of gratitude; someone did something to make you happy, you thank them, they feel happy, and that in turn makes you even happier. The effect of gratitude is such an under-appreciated phenomenon - maybe it feels so good because we simply don’t do it enough.
Regardless, as it turns out, saying thank you will do more for you than just deliver an emotional high. In fact, giving thanks has been shown to make people more desirable socially, as well as more respected and competent. In a study conducted at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill*, participants who witnessed someone saying thank you to someone else were themselves more helpful toward the grateful person - proving gratitude begets good service. In another experiment, people who witnessed a video featuring someone expressing gratitude to or praise for another person, subsequently self-disclosed more to the person expressing the gratitude; demonstrating that simply being seen to be a grateful person makes people invest more in you. A further experiment showed that people who witnessed gratitude being expressed wanted to help and affiliate more with the grateful person and with the person receiving the gratitude! Showing that genuinely thanking people not only gives the thanked person more kudos, but it also makes you someone desirable as a social contact. Saying thank you not only makes you feel better, it makes you a better person!
So how can we apply this phenomenon, not just to our daily lives, but also to our businesses?
Look at giving and receiving gratitude as a form of social proof. It’s the idea that this person, product, or service is good, it’s worth dealing with, and that through saying thank you, you demonstrate that you’ve have had a good experience. This idea is what feeds online reviews. Social proof via online reviews is so effective at driving business outcomes that not only does Google consider them a key SEO criterion, but many businesses’ operating models depend on them (for example Airbnb, Tripadvisor, or Yelp). Going back to the gratitude study mentioned above, when we give/receive or witness gratitude we’re simply experiencing a real-life, good review. For those that give reviews, the act shows a willingness to rise above their self-importance and acknowledge the attributes of others. It also implies competence - if you’re giving a good review it’s because you have the experience to know the skills and effort it takes to do something well.
Am I suggesting we go and start handing out 5-star reviews willy-nilly? No. Not at all - but if you feel like you got great service, absolutely do it! If you appreciate the business or person that you dealt with then you’ll do them a great many favours by rating them on google, Facebook, or even their website. And if you are an expert in a certain field, then the act of giving reviews shows you know what you are talking about and are willing to praise the work done by others. Great stuff. But what I am angling for here is for us all to make the effort to, when someone does something that makes us smile or does a great job, call, email or simply go up to them and say “Hey, you’ve made me happy today and I want you to know that you are awesome. Thank you.” As a business person, you are showing that you know what good work/service looks like, and as a human, you’re showing that you’re someone worth having around.
When someone does something that makes us smile or does a great job, call, email or simply go up to them and say “Hey, you’ve made me happy today and I want you to know that you are awesome. Thank you.”
It’s such a little thing. Give it a go.
*Algoe SB, Dwyer PC, Younge A, Oveis C. A new perspective on the social functions of emotions: Gratitude and the witnessing effect. J Pers Soc Psychol. 2020;119(1):40-74. doi:10.1037/pspi0000202