The Marketing Power of Gratitude
Restored from the Empower Network archive (2011–2017), lightly edited to meet our current advertising standards. Views are the original author’s.
Have you ever thought about the Marketing power of Gratitude?
Here’s an idea: Take time to say ‘thank you’ to current customers. Your ‘thank you’ can make their day. We don’t show appreciation enough. Do it with a hand-written note or a personal email, at the very least. Be specific, if possible. Have they given you an exciting challenge? Do you appreciate that they always pay on time? Are they consistently pleasant to work with? Tell them! Neither you or they will realize you are marketing!
Take time to say ‘thank you’ to your past customers. Remind them that you exist. You never know what jogging someone’s memory can do in terms of referrals or recommendations. Its a subtle form of marketing.
Say ‘thank you’ to your vendors. You’d miss them if they disappeared. That includes the printer who does you a favor from time to time on rush jobs, the graphic designer who turns a bad sketch on a cocktail napkin into art, even the cleaning person who shows up reliably and always does a nice job. Kindness is free, but it’s in short supply these days. It’s notable because it’s rare and precious. This form of marketing will lead to referrals.
Thank your employees. The truth is, you can’t do it without them. They know it, but sometimes they wonder if you realize it. In lean times, maybe you can’t give them a raise, but you can give them an appreciative work environment. That’s so rare, they’ll probably tell everyone they know. How many bosses actually say ‘thank you’ and mean it? You can’t put a price tag on marketing like this!
Appreciation in Marketing
Appreciation
Show Appreciation to the people who enable you to do what you do. That includes your life partner, your kids, your extended family, the friends or sitters who pick your kids up when a meeting runs late, the neighbor who gets your kid off to the bus because you have to leave for a meeting, the best friend who encourages you when you lose out on a bid.
Give something without expecting return. Try to move past quid-pro-quo. Make a referral to someone who probably isn’t in a position to return the favor. Do a networking meeting (or two or three) with people looking for a job in your industry or students who are fresh out of school. Speak at a career day or present on a helpful topic in your area of expertise to a job hunter group. Make it a point to buy from a local retailer to help them stay in business. Give a bag of groceries to the food bank. Or start a ‘pay it forward’ chain when you buy a cup of coffee in the morning and buy one for the next person in line, too. While you may not consciously view this as marketing, it will actually extend to your business because of you, as a person.
You have absolutely no idea about the power of the eventual and possibly far-reaching results of your good deed. Eventually, that goodness does come back to you. And in the short run, you’ll feel better for it!
Rewards of Gratitude in Marketing
Gratitude
When you are animated by a spirit of gratitude, you become different from the norm. You “glow instead of glower.” You become approachable. People feel appreciated so rarely that they are attracted to those that are genuinely grateful for what they do and who they are. And they tell other people about it. Cultivate these qualities and not only will you be a better person but you WILL do a better job of marketing!
Be sure to check out these links for additional information on Gratitude/Appreciation Marketing:
http://www.inc.com/geoffrey-james/gratitude-true-secret-to-success.html
http://www.jimteasley.com/2012/08/appreciation-marketing-show-your.html
No matter how you slice it: saying “Thank you,” expressing appreciation, or showing gratitude, just Do it!
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