If someone asks us for information that we provide to them,
we have the right to expect a thank you for the information that we have
provided. If the request is made in the form of an email rather than in a
face-to-face verbal inquiry, the requestor frequently never thanks the
responder for the information that they receive.
If their inquiry was made verbally in a conversation, would
they just walk away without any reply at all? The use of an email for the
original inquiry does not provide an excuse for not replying to the email which
answers the original request. Simple politeness demands that we take the step
to thank others for what they do for us.
What else do we not do in our business lives that would fall
under the expected aspects of simple politeness? How about thanking our
customers for being our customers? Shouldn’t we issue each customer a “thank
you” when they buy from us, when they put money into our pockets? Gratitude for
our customers’ business is so much more potent in the business-customer
relationship than when we promote how great we are as a business or how
wonderful our products or services are.
If one of our customers refers someone else to us we should
thank the referring customer for trusting us to treat their referral as well as
we did them. If the referred person does not become our customer, is that the
fault of the referring person, or is that our job to make the referral work? We
still should show our gratitude for the referral.
What about the customer who becomes a client who buys from
us on a continued basis, who periodically orders, or who is on an automatic
renewal with our company? They deserve special thanks and recognition. An
expression of gratitude is not only appropriate; it should be expected. To do
less is taking the customer for granted, the first step that will result in our
losing the customer in the future.
Everyone likes to be noticed and appreciated for what we do.
As business people we want to receive the thanks of our customers for offering
such great products or services at such great prices. We also want to be
recognized for making the customer buying experience as enjoyable as we can. Is
it too much for our customers to expect some simple politeness from us towards
them? Shouldn’t we treat them as we would want to be treated by everyone with
whom we do business, or just encounter every day?
Gratitude Marketing provides us the means to
show simple politeness towards others. It is not a new and complicated process.
It is not revolutionary or a secret means of building a business. It is just
doing what we want others to do, showing gratitude for those actions we all perform
during the day. It doesn’t matter if we are the giver or the receiver of this great
karma, we all can benefit from simple politeness and a warm thank you. Please
leave me your comments, or email me at Jim@JimTeasley.com,
or call me at 360-314-8691.
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