Be honest with yourself. Do you really want to drink your coffee out of a mug with one of your vendor's logos on it? Probably not… Instead you’ll likely stick it, as lovely and wide-mouthed as it may be, in a cupboard to collect dust or even just throw it away.
Let’s continue this thought exercise. Which would you appreciate more, an empty mug that you won’t use or a full paper cup of caffeinated goodness from your favorite coffee shop? The coffee of course - the thing that you will actually use. You’ll always appreciate the gesture that you can actually use more.
This is how you need to be thinking about your client appreciation as the holidays approach. When it comes to building business relationships, the annual tradition of sending a generic fruit basket or branded swag needs to be replaced with more genuine and useful gestures of appreciation.
This year, choose to show your clients how much you value and appreciate their business with personalized gestures of gratitude. As Harvard Medical School reports, gratitude helps people feel more positive emotions, relish good experiences, improve their health, deal with adversity, and build strong relationships. These strong relationships are the key to your business success and growth. After all, people like to do business with people they like and everyone likes someone who appreciates them.
Genuine appreciation is about more than sending someone a generic mug with your company logo on it (something the recipient probably doesn’t even want). It’s an opportunity to show your clients you listen to and appreciate everything they bring to the table. Gratitude that makes an impact is timely and personal - it’s all about the recipient - it’s not focused merely on getting your brand or your logo in front of their eyes.
With this in mind we’ve rounded up the top three strategies for sharing gratitude this holiday season that will help forge stronger relationships and put you closer to reaching your business goals.
- Simple and effective - It doesn’t have to be some big elaborate basket or dizzying array of chocolate covered everything. Sometimes just a simple coffee and a note can be the perfect way to cut through the noise and let someone know you are thinking about them. Especially in times where budgets may be tighter, don’t lose sight of the fact that a little gratitude can go a long way.
- Personalized - One of the most important aspects of making any gesture of appreciation genuine, is to add a personal note. This is where active listening and prior conversations are so important. Lean on what you have learned about the person that you appreciate to customize the gesture to them in particular. Did they do a great job finishing a project on a tight deadline, did they get interrupted in your last zoom call by a barking dog, did they complain about too many weeds in their yard, did they mention their love to you about movie nights and popcorn? Be listening for these things and then build them into the message you send with your gesture of appreciation. It shows you care about them as an individual and that you were listening. This is a key area where you can maximize the impact of the gesture and guarantee you put a smile on their face.
- Timely and relevant - Whenever you are sending a Thnks to someone, consider the timing. When will they get it, how can they use it, what are their circumstances and how can you work around them to deliver the greatest impact with your gesture? With a scheduling feature like you can find in the Thnks platform, you can plan ahead to send the perfect gesture of appreciation precisely when you want it to be sent. So, schedule ahead that holiday themed Thnks and know that you’ll make the biggest impact, and your future self will thank you for it - and so will your delighted recipient!
This holiday season doesn’t have to be stressful or filled with impersonal gifts. Instead, you can opt to show your clients how much you appreciate them and strengthen your relationships with a truly personalized and convenient gesture of gratitude. In the end, reaching your business goals depends on the strength of the relationships you build.
Thnks is a digital gratitude platform that empowers business professionals to build better relationships by sharing personalized gestures of appreciation. An easy and efficient way to spread thoughtfulness in the workplace, more than 7,500 teams use Thnks to shorten sales cycles while improving client relationships, customer engagement and employee appreciation. Interested in learning more? Sign up for a demo, or click here to learn more about expressing gratitude in business!
