Make Gratitude Your Brand (Yes, Thank You is Enough)

"But saying Thank You that often - that insistently, without explaining how I'm part of accomplishing my organization's mission and how important we are is, well, humbling."

(I was impressed by the self-awareness, but we were after something more than a 'life lesson' - we were trying to change the future of the organization from failure to success and get out of just barely surviving mode!)

"What if gratitude became part - the integral part - of your brand?" I answered this struggling business owner.

"I'd be the only one... and my peers wouldn't take me seriously," was his honest answer.

"Are they your audience? Are they going to be your customers? Are they going to fund your next expansion? Are they...?" (and he stopped my insistent and obvious corrections to his insecurities with a hand signal of surrender).

Make gratitude your branding.

Thank You is the most important thing you can say as you build brand - personally and professionally. As an executive communications consultant, this is the '3' of the '1 - 2 - 3' to transform the way we succeed in creating our brand. (Check back for 1 and 2... coming soon.)

Look back at your year of communicating - newsletters, updates, emails, texts, social media posts, ad copy, casual conversations and public presentations - everything you've said that someone important to your organization could see... and count-up the times you said Thank You.

What do you notice?

Were you surprised? Do you sound grateful?

Here’s a 'best practice' (for those of us who aspire to the minimum - that's the synonym for 'best practice' - let's be honest): every connection we make should say Thank You (at least) three times, in three different ways.

Why?

Because ‘Thank You’ is the most effective, simplest and sincere way of connecting - acknowledging your relationships, creating a community, and validating the importance of those, without whom, nothing would be possible.

Some good, recent research started with the most dependent, obvious category of communications and marketing - the nonprofit world. From there it was an easy (and short) word-walk to brand-building. (Why? Because brands that show gratitude instead of entitlement, customer-care instead of self-obsession are the brands that win - it's that simple!)

Here's a link to a UK nonprofit's work testing ‘Thank You’ programs (yes, dedicated campaigns to say Thank You to the generous givers who make everything possible), and I thought you'd like to see some of the cool things they’ve discovered.

• Stories with a Thank You focus create more good feelings than stories without (oh, and stories always create more good feelings than statistics, and stories with a person’s name always create more good feelings – you get the point).
• Thank You good feelings take time to develop (so consistency and frequency is more important than a once a year-end note or receipt with a basic salutation).
• Organization leaders who say Thank You - always start, narrate, and end with gratitude - are thought of as 'leaders' and not just 'the one who's in charge' by customers, supporters, and those who work in the organization.
• But not all Thank You's are equal (simple salutations often ignored, while simplistic and condescending exaggerations are insulting).

But, it's so much more than just saying it more – it’s about saying Thank You better.

Here’s a quick guide to how we can say ‘Thank you’ better...

1. The salutation Thank You – short, sweet, sincere (and no details). Thank you! (Use it, but be ready for it to be ignored.)

2. The ‘that’ Thank You – explains a this-for-that relationship: ‘Your gift made it possible for Sarah’s life to be changed and she’s so thankful.’ It doesn’t say how this happened, just ‘this’ (you gave) and ‘that’ happened.

3. The ‘how’ Thank You – explains the way something happened: ‘Thank you because your gift opened the door to job training for Sarah by providing the space/training/skilled help needed to give her hope.’

4. The 'story' Thank You – narrating outcomes and progress in the lives of the target audience (those who should benefit from the organization's mission) by intimately and immediately connecting givers with beneficiaries with no middle, no 'us' or 'we' or 'our' in the story (no, 'you helped us fund our goal and Sarah was helped because you helped us').

5. The ‘Wow!’ Thank You – giving credit where credit is due: ‘You changed Sarah’s life by giving her the chance she longed for but couldn’t imagine; thank you for making the impossible happen!’ Show your audience you're impressed by them (and reward good behavior).

The goal is to close the gap between the life of the buyer or giver and changing the world and their world - and this creates a new community.

It gives givers, buyers, volunteers a new identity instead of just a new goal. Instead of just aspirations, this new community is their identity.

For example, if you're trying to quit smoking and you're offered a cigarette you can say, 'No, I'm trying to quit' (an aspiration), or 'No thank you, I don't smoke' (an identity). Guess which one contributes more to your success?

Identity beats aspiration - every damn day, day after day.

Are there a lot more steps in between? Of course. Aren’t there so many more people involved - including you, your organization? Yes, absolutely. But your job in communicating is to help others feel connected – like they’re right there – in all we do, in all the lives changed, in all the amazing things that are possible.

So close that gap with gratitude!

(Want to know more about how to connect with your best audience? Contact me today!)

#marketing #nonprofit #brand #gratitude