Showing appreciation for your team and customers is not only a nice thing to do, but also a smart way to build trust, loyalty, and engagement. In this article, you will learn some practical tips on how to express gratitude and recognition to the people who matter most for your startup.
Appreciation is a powerful motivator and a key driver of satisfaction and retention. When you appreciate your team, you acknowledge their efforts, value their contributions, and inspire them to keep growing and learning. When you appreciate your customers, you show them that you care about their needs, feedback, and success. Appreciation also helps you create a positive and supportive culture that fosters collaboration, innovation, and resilience.
Showing appreciation for your team is essential, and there are many ways to do it. To be genuine, specific, and timely with your appreciation, you should give them regular and constructive feedback on their performance and achievements. Celebrating their milestones, wins, and learnings both individually and as a group is also important. Additionally, rewarding them with meaningful incentives such as bonuses, gifts, or recognition programs can be beneficial. Supporting their professional development and career goals by providing them with opportunities, resources, and mentorship is key. Finally, encouraging their well-being and work-life balance by offering them flexibility, autonomy, and wellness benefits is a great way to show appreciation.
In my experience, in order to provide a meaningful incentive, you must first understand what is meaningful to each person on your team. Some people may be motivated by words of encouragement while others thrive when you give them public praise. Some people may feel appreciated when given stretch projects, while others would appreciate additional autonomy. The key is understanding what is important to each person. The easiest lever for a manager to pull is the financial one, but often the more creative incentives make a more lasting impression with your team.
Part of my job at a multinational finance firm I worked at was fostering a good work culture and keeping employees “happy.” This meant letting them know I really cared, wanted to make their life works better, cared about their long term career goals and supported them in whatever capacity needed. Verbally telling someone when they do a good job, giving them a title change, advocating for a salary increase/bonus for them on their behalf, discussing their career goals and doing what you can to help them get there, remembering their bday and organizing holiday parties/gifts, etc… all show employees, in various manners, that they are more than just an employee.
Your customers are the lifeblood of your startup, and showing them appreciation is a great way to retain them, delight them, and turn them into advocates. You can thank them for choosing your product or service and for giving you feedback or referrals. Consider surprising them with unexpected perks, discounts, or upgrades based on their preferences and behavior. Make sure to provide excellent customer service by being responsive, helpful, and proactive. Additionally, create valuable content, resources, and events that educate, entertain, and engage them. Furthermore, solicit their input and opinions and involve them in your product development or improvement process.
Appreciation is not only about what you say or do, but also how it makes your team and customers feel. To ensure your appreciation efforts have the desired impact, it is important to measure its effectiveness. For your team, surveys, interviews, and feedback tools can be used to assess their satisfaction, engagement, and motivation. Additionally, metrics such as turnover, productivity, and performance can be tracked. For customers, surveys, reviews, and testimonials can be used to measure their satisfaction, loyalty, and advocacy. Metrics such as retention, churn, and referrals can also be tracked.
Appreciation can sometimes be trial and error, which is ok, as long as you’re actively doing something/anything. What one appreciates another may not be thankful for. Appreciation involves a lot of time and some money, so being as effective as possible should be top priority. Get a read on what is and isn’t working. Once you measure your efforts you can re-strategize to change nothing or remove/add some of your efforts. Keep what’s working. We sometimes want to keep things fresh but when you find a “golden” formula keep it and then maybe play around with other aspects of your holistic “appreciation” efforts. This is not a static road and constantly accessing and changing your approach to appreciation makes sense!
Appreciation is an ongoing process that needs regular attention and improvement. To improve your appreciation skills, you should make it a habit by setting reminders, goals, and routines. Appreciation should also be a dialogue, with feedback being given and received between yourself, your team, and customers. Finally, make appreciation a culture by incorporating it into your values, policies, and practices, and by modeling and reinforcing it among your team and customers.
If you want to start showing more appreciation for your team and customers, consider beginning with identifying who you want to appreciate and why. Consider their needs, expectations, and preferences when deciding how and when to express your appreciation. When delivering your appreciation, make sure to do so clearly, sincerely, and respectfully. Additionally, measure and improve your appreciation over time.