How you can capture a return on investment on giving thanks and appreciation approach for high ultimate returns, conversions, employee retention and greater business success.
I love when business takes back pieces of its old school self, because it worked better or made more sense. That, right now, is where we are with giving a simple thank you. People everywhere feel under-appreciated in business, and mistreated as employees and consumers. It’s high time giving the “thank you” made a big comeback and the main reason is because a thank you is actually worth money.
What Happens When You Appreciate Someone?
Think about this: when you go out of your way to appreciate someone, or to say thank you, how do they respond? Are they ever annoyed or bothered? Are they ever unhappy with the extra effort and time? No. This is a hallmark of being human; we need to feel appreciated, our existence and contribution acknowledged. On a very deep level, this is an innate part of who we all are.
If we know this is something that makes everyone feel good, across all mediums and masses… what is stopping us all from just immersing our employees and our clients in the most heartfelt thank you’s ever? Are we so focused on making more money that we’ve forgotten the simple things that actually make us (or save us) more money?
The Simple Act of Saying Thank You
Michael Jacobs started something called The Thank You Plan out of his disdain for the lack of both appreciation and financial knowledge in the general population. He realized that there was an opportunity for him to provide a partnership that worked for everyone.
No Obligation + No Charge Thank You Plan
For Michael, The Thank You Plan is a way to get people much needed financial education and advice, while simultaneously serving as a great way for employers to say Thank You to their employees or best customers. Providing an opportunity, that is free, with no obligation, shows everyone who is a recipient that they are cared about, on a deeper level than just their work contribution or their buying power.
The Power In A Handwritten Note
Over at Help Scout they took this conversation a different direction by pointing out the importance of a handwritten note , by calling out the handwritten thank you note as the lowest-cost, highest-impact way to engage clients in word of mouth sharing.
“The ROI of thanking your customers is inextricably linked to the ROI of word-of-mouth. Handwritten thank-you notes are such a rare throwback to old-school customer service, because hardly anyone does it anymore. They stand out as a delightful gesture, one that makes people feel special enough to call it out and share with others.”
What’s the Bottom Line?
Being creative in thanking your employees or clients by utilizing a partnership and offering something no obligation and for free helps you harness the real power of thanking and this will show up in your conversion rates. What if each thank you offered to employees converts into savings in money by having lower turnover rates? What if each thank you offered to clients presented an opportunity for them to share your brand for free?
“It’s not the money that makes these efforts shocking and awesome, it’s the care and creativity involved…” – Gary Vaynerchuk, The Thank You Economy.
The bottom line is that there is a true fortune to be made in this business shift, all while contributing to the greater good. This is a true win-win on a grand scale and something we should all feel a little bit thankful for and eager to start giving today.
Read the original INC article published on November 28, 2017.
