Give Thanks

• Use a hand written note.  They actually still exist!  A senior executive at a client recently went out of his way to support our joint initiative.  We spent the 7 minutes required to write and hand-written note and received a timely response from him.  How many emails vs. hand written notes do you think he received that day? They’re light, easy to carry, and you can pick them up anywhere.  
• Thank administrative team members at your clients.  Each time we work with a particular client, Francesca, Diana and Valerie are in the client’s lobby smiling and ready to help us.  Each time I call, I intentionally dial the main number (instead of a client’s individual extension) so I can take the extra 15 seconds to say good morning to Francesca, Diana, or Valerie and thank her for transferring me.  Who do you think is always there and excited to help when I need some extra navigational advice or support with this client? We don’t say thank you and treat people extra well so we will be treated well in return. It just happens.  Not a bad idea to thank your own administrative team members, in addition to those at your clients.
• Thank your vendors.  Most of us have vendors or partners of some sort.  We assume they should be thanking us, because after all, we’re their client.  It’s true, they should, and we can thank them too. Jeffrey Hayzlett, former Kodak Chief Marketing Officer advises:  “Treat your vendors and suppliers like customers.” In his example from earlier in his career, he shares how he treated his copier technician vendor when he owned a print shop.  Whenever he ran his biggest and most profitable jobs, he ran them on the weekends, when inevitably his printing machines would break down, and it was difficult to find quick support.  Each weekend when he ran one of these big jobs, he paid to put his technician and his family up in the hotel across the street from the print shop. The family loved the weekend in the hotel, enjoying the pool and room service, and Jeffrey exceeded his client’s expectations because if there was a problem at 2 AM, the technician would walk over in his pajamas.  Thanking vendors and treating them well is the right thing to do, and it often pays off many times. Who do you think this technician recommends when he comes across people looking for a print shop?

These are easy:  write thank yous by hand, thank administrative people (internally and externally), and thank your vendors.  Thank YOU for reading this article.